Picking Up The Pieces: Sequel to Bridges
by Jazzy1
Summary: Draco is fresh out of Azkaban. Hermione is Head Mistress at Hogwarts. Can they manage to mend the mistakes of their past and find the love they once lost? EWE/OC/Future Lemons. Sequel to Bridges.
1. Out of the Darkness

_The love that you had in your heart is gone; any touch of sincerity, any trace of compassion…Tell me what hardened your heart, what turned it to stone? Tell me what made you forget you were in love with someone? Was I wrong to forgive your indiscretions? Should I have been more hysterical, less understanding? If you're looking for a villain, go on assume the role…_

_Tracy Chapman_

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"You're letting me come with you," demanded Harry as she followed Hermione down the corridor at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she was currently presiding as Headmistress.

After teaching charms for fifteen years, with a spotless record and impressive success rate with her students that had been consistently reflected in their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, McGonagall felt confident enough to retire. She had recommended Hermione for the position, personally presenting her before the Board of Governors, and made a public announcement of her recommendation in the Daily Prophet. Now well into her old age, McGonagall lived a relaxing life in a quaint seaside home, although she still visited the school on occasion to check up on things.

For the last three years Hermione had been adjusting to her new position quite swiftly. She had always had a knack for positions of leadership and it helped that she genuinely loved her job. Although she had been passionate about her job with the Ministry too, she felt a higher degree of satisfaction working as a teacher and mentor. Majority of her students walked through the doors of Hogwarts completely innocent and ready to be molded towards greatness. Sure placed a role in ensuring they left Hogwarts as capable witches and wizards with character, intelligence confidence, and integrity. It was important to her and now defined her life.

She also found the lack of sadness to be a great relief in her life. Sure, there were still frequent tears and expressions of anger; but they were inspired by hormones and breakups, not death and betrayal.

At first it was a rocky acclimation. There were memories to sort through, seemingly, in every class room, passageway and hall; not all positive. One of the hardest days for her Hermione had been when she accidently encountered the ghost of Lavender Brown drifting pass her in a corridor. That day, she had spent the rest of the evening in and out of a panic attack.

In the end, she had made it through the transition a stronger woman. It had taken her years to fully come to peace with the tragedies that had occurred at the Battle of Hogwarts, but she had managed it. She had even been able to host the annual anniversary charity event over the last three years, which was something she never envisioned herself being able to do. The very thought of attending as a guest used to be far too overwhelming to even consider.

Now she faced a new challenge. Another piece of her past was remerging, and she would not be able to bury it away, or run away from it until it resolved itself. No longer did she bury her problems at the bottom of a bottle of firewhiskey either, a blurry night eighteen years ago with a particular Weasley ensured that for her. It was on that night she decided that she wanted to quit drinking once and for all. At first she ended up drinking more, despite her desire to wean off of the habit, but she eventually overcame the urge. It took her almost a full month to break the habit but once she did, she never looked back.

Hermione clasped the front of her robe close as she walked outside in the midst of a windy day. Harry was still at her heel.

"You don't know if he's still dangerous," he continued, throwing his hands down in frustration

"He's never been dangerous to me," insisted Hermione, ignorantly.

"You're assuming he's still the same man you knew before! You don't know who he is now or what he's like. Azkaban can change a man for the worse!"

"I'm very aware of that, Harry."

"Don't apparate just yet." Harry forced her to turn around and look at him when they reached the edge of Hogwarts property. "What are you trying to prove by going this alone Hermione? We all know how brave you are; you don't need to do this for anyone."

Hermione had maintained a straight-edge, emotionless face the entire week; but Harry knew that each day closer to Draco's release had been chipping away at her from the inside-out; her mask was slipping, whether she realized it or not.

"I'm not trying to prove anything Harry. I just don't want to make this a bigger deal than it needs to be. I'm handling this like a professional, that's all. I don't have a choice in this, so I might as well make the best of a bad situation."

"But this _is_ a big deal Hermione. Stop pretending like this isn't difficult! You're about to face the man who helped kill your parents! That _should_ affect you; it's normal to feel upset about that!"

"Blaise killed my parents, not Draco, and he's never getting out. Draco just-,"

"Stood there and did nothing." Harry finished her sentence. "He only encouraged him to do it. Don't justify it by defending him."

"I'm not justifying the death of my parents!" Hermione hadn't meant to yell. She wanted to stay cool and retain her composure, but Harry was purposely pushing her buttons to prove a point, but she wasn't going to let him, or anyone else, get under her skin. "Look…I know you disagree, but I do believe he changed after that. I know that doesn't change what happened, I know that. And it sure as hell doesn't change where we are now, but I feel confident that I'm not in any danger around him…not physically anyway. I need you to trust me."

"You're emotionally vulnerable, and you know it." Harry called her out. "As far as your physical safety goes, I still insist that you have no idea what he's capable of now. Sirius was a good man who never harmed a soul, and that place nearly cracked him in half."

"I know it did, and I'm not pretending that I don't know what Azkaban does to people. To be honest, I don't know how I'm going to feel once I get into the same room with him. I just, I don't…" Hermione struggled for the right words to explain how out she was feeling, and why she knew she needed to do this her way.

"You don't want to lose face in front of someone else," accused Harry. "You don't want anyone to see you hurting or to see you weak. You have to lose this front Hermione! I know you better than almost anyone so I can tell when you're scared, and right now I know that you're terrified."

Hermione bit her tongue. She couldn't argue with him when she knew that he was right, despite all she had been trying to tell herself.

"I was going to tell you once we got there, but I may as well tell you now." Harry went on. "Ginny help me pull some strings at the Ministry and they're letting me serve as his probation officer."

Hermione's eyebrows raised in shock. "You've never served as a probation office before, how did you manage that? Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"What I do, what we both used to do, is close enough to the job requirement. I have the qualifications, and the authority to do it. It's just a one-time deal and Percy knows what this case means to me. I didn't tell you because I don't need you trying to talk me out of it. I knew you might object but I want to be involved so I can protect you."

"I can protect myself."

"Not from everything."

Percy had finally managed to secure his precious, life-long, coveted position of Minister of Magic. True to his word, he had never let Hermione's past discretions leak out to the public. They had all lived a life with limited turbulence for the last eighteen years. Hermione was concerned that was all about to change after this afternoon…

"As his probation officer, you're just going to have to surrender him to me later today anyway; so you may as well let me come with you now and kill two birds with one stone."

"No." Hermione was adamant.

Harry was about to argue with her more but she interrupted him before he could start.

"Harry, no. I know that you want to be there for me, to help me, but I need to do this alone. I need to confront this on my own and know that I have the strength to overcome the way I feel right now. I just have to. Please try to understand? If you go back to my office, I promise that I will deliver him straight there after I collect him from the guard."

Harry looked at her sternly. He didn't like the arrangement, but he could tell Hermione wasn't going to budge. "You swear it?"

"I promise."

"If he tries anything to hurt you…" Harry snarled as he bunched his fist at the thought.

"I'll kill him before you do," said Hermione with a slight wink, trying to lighten the situation; if that could be possible.

Without warning, Harry pulled her into an unexpected hug. "I'm proud of you. I want you to know that."

"Harry, I…"

"Just let me be emotional for once, yeah?" Harry said with embarrassment.

"Sure..." Hermione couldn't deny that this was sweet, but it was still awkward. She had never known Harry to be the hugging type.

"I'm proud of how far you've come in your life; everything you've managed to do…had to do to survive…I've notice it all. You act indestructible, and I know that you're strong, but I remember where you've come from as well. I just don't want to see you move backwards because of this, or get hurt again."

"I don't have a choice Harry," said Hermione with a sigh. Her hands were being tied by the Board of Governors; and as Headmistress, she had no choice but to comply with their wishes.

"I understand that. I know that you don't and I know that you'll handle this with more grace than anyone I've ever known."

"I have to. Ever since Sophia I've had to learn how to adapt to whatever life throws at me, including this."

Harry gave her a small smile and hugged her once more; this time Hermione returned the gesture and wrapped her arms around her lifelong friend.

"I'll see you soon…with him."

Hermione nodded, stepped forward and apparated to Azkaban.

/

Hermione touched down in a small room situated near a small, dimly lit office. A short haired witch, who looked like she was half asleep, was leaning on her elbow waiting for her to approach the desk. Clearly, there wasn't much for her to do in a place like this. Of course, it wasn't every day that they had a release so her boredom was understandable.

With trembling hands Hermione surrendered her wand to the witch, as was protocol when entering any wizarding prison, and most Ministry buildings as a visitor.

"Thanks for reading the sign," drawled the sleepy attendant, nodding to the sign listed to the right of Hermione stating: _Please surrender wand to attendant upon entry_. Hermione hadn't actually noticed the sign; she just knew the rules.

The witch placed Hermione's wand in a small cylinder container that tumbled it around before printing out a small slip of parchment at the end that contained information about Hermione's identity, job, and Ministry record. Once she was deemed clear and safe, the witched passed back her wand.

"I'm assuming you're here for Draco Malfoy? Seeing as that's our only scheduled release today..." said the office witch with a yawn.

"Yes, I have his release papers here." Hermione reached inside her cloak and pulled out a rolled up series of parchments and passed them over.

The witch unraveled them and quickly scanned them over. "Alright, this all seems to be in order. Let me just signal for one of the guards to escort you and we'll have you both on your way."

It took about fifteen minutes before a guard arrived for Hermione. The entire time she waited, she had paced nervously under the curious stare of the bored office with. It had been rather uncomfortable and she was grateful to move onto the next portion of this torturous event.

"Ms. Granger?" The guard called out her name as if he were reading it off a list; seeing as she was the only person in the room who didn't work there, he didn't wait for an answer but proceeded to move back through the door he had just come out of, beckoning Hermione to follow him. "Come with me and stay close."

It wasn't obvious to anyone else, but Hermione was shaking with nerves. She counted the pace of her breathing as she followed the guard down a winding hallway that led to a circular room with two couches placed against the wall. It was very unlikely she was going to be able to sit still anywhere until this ordeal was over with.

"You can wait here until he prisoner is brought forth," he instructed.

"Are you staying here with me?" She asked rather too quickly; her jumpiness was beginning to show.

The guard's lip curled up in an arrogant smirk. "Are you scared Ms. Granger? Never been in a prison before?

"No. I'm not scared," she said, affronted by his remark. "I was just wondering if you were; I don't spend a lot of time in prisons anymore and was unsure is all."

"I'll stay and wait with ya' if you want. Just got back from my lunch break and I'm not in a rush to get back to my post anyhow."

That would explain why it had taken over ten minutes for him to retrieve her. It was highly doubtful he had considered her waiting during his break.

Although standing in the midst of the unfamiliar room was awkward, it would have been more so if she was standing there alone. Time seemed to crawl as they waited for Draco to arrive.

When the door finally opened, it startled her. She held her breath as another guard emerged with a long haired, badly worn, and emaciated prisoner in his tow.

He was utterly unrecognizable. This was hardly a shadow of the man she remembered him being. Perhaps they had brought her the wrong person?

"Merlin's beard Draco…is that really you?"

Draco looked up through a mess of hair and squinted at her as if she had spoken too loudly, and as it was difficult for him to see her at the same time.

Hermione worried that maybe he had lost his mind during his sentence. What if Harry was right and this was no longer the man she thought she knew? He didn't even seem to recognize her to know who she was.

"Draco, it's me…Hermione Granger. I'm your collector." She made a point to not speak as loudly this time. She didn't want to startle him.

"…I know…" Draco's voice emerged as a dry croak. He tried to wet his lips, but they appeared too parched to be of any help. "…I know who you are…"

Hermione's eyes were blinking rapidly in disbelief of the sight before her. She didn't know what to say next. Luckily, the guard who had escorted Draco into the room stepped forward and handed her Draco's release papers.

"I just need you to sign here to confirm that he's being released into your hold. Once he leaves here, his probation officer will be in contact with him soon, and he knows that."

"Right, of course." Hermione signed the form being presented to her and took a copy of the completed release form for her own records. "Is there anything else you need me to do?"

"Nope, that's it. He's free to go…well free to leave here anyway if you know what I mean." The guard gave a slight chuckle as if that had actually been a funny remark. "You can get back out the way you came in. His apparition restriction was lifted when he signed his release form so you don't need to worry about that gettin' in your way. Oh yeah, before I forget…here ya' go."

The guard ruffled around in his the deep pockets of his uniform until he pulled out a sleek wand and passed it over to her. "His wand is still be tracked until his probation is over, and there are some restrictions but nothing that'll keep him from being able to work and fend for himself. Again, his probation officer will know all the details and conditions of his release but I'll let you decide to give that back to him when you feel safe enough to do so. Make sure he; what's the phrase again? Oh yeah, comes along quietly."

"Oh…Okay, thank you." Hermione kept nodding her head like a bobble-head far longer than she needed to. She was stalling for what to say next to Draco; she had no idea.

The guards started to walk away from them and Hermione felt a sense of panic rising up inside.

'_Stay calm Hermione and remain in control. Look at him, there's nothing he could do to you in the state he's in. You could probably throw him if you wanted to. He's been reduce to practically nothing. Don't feel bad for him, he deserved this. You didn't do this to him. He did this to himself…'_

"Are you ready to go Draco?" she spoke to him very carefully.

He seemed so fragile.

Draco didn't know how he could feel ready to do anything. For eighteen years, he had barely existed. The mere presence of sunlight in the room was enough to overwhelm him; such a bright contrast to the dark existence he had become accustom to.

Now, he was about to reemerge into a world that had continued thriving without his participation for nearly two decades. He didn't know how to respond to that.

Slowly and silently, he followed Hermione down the curved hall that led back out to the small room Hermione had apparated to on arrival.

The dazed witch at the desk had her face buried in a magazine and gave no acknowledgement that they had entered the room, but peeked nosily over the top of the article she was reading to watch them leave.

Hermione finally spoke up again.

"I figured apparition might be a bit much for you after not using magic for so long, so I brought along a port key."

Draco wouldn't look at her, his gazed remained fixed staring straight at the floor as he slowly nodded his head to consent to the port key.

"Alright…," Hermione nervously fished around for the port key in her cloak pocket. It was a just a fork she had swiped from the Great Hall on her way out, nothing fancy.

"Ready?"

Draco reached out to grasp the port key, his finger barely grazed her hand as he did so. She shuddered in response, his touch was cold as ice and it shocked her.

Hermione quickly activated the portkey and soon they landed back in her Hogwarts office, where Harry was diligently waiting for her seated behind the desk.

"That's him?" asked Harry with as much surprise in his voice as Hermione felt, as if Draco wasn't in the room with them. Even Harry hadn't recognized Draco in his current state.

Hermione silently nodded in confirmation as she walked up to her desk to stand beside Harry, leaving Draco standing alone in front of them.

"You can sit down if you'd like Draco," offered Harry pointed to one of the few armchairs in the room.

Draco reached back and braced himself down onto the arm of the charm and carefully sank down into the cushion. Without meaning to, he let out a sigh of relief and satisfaction as he nestled into place. He hadn't sat on a real cushion during the entire duration of his stay at Azkaban. The mats they were given to sleep on were firm and rough. Even now, he wasn't sure what they had been made of, but it had been nothing comfortable.

"Thank you," softly muttered Draco, a great deal of gratitude apparent in his voice. He didn't understand why she was showing him any form of kindness; he didn't know why he was in the middle of the headmaster's office at Hogwarts; and he didn't know why Harry Potter was in the room with them, but it didn't matter.

All he knew for sure, was that he was no longer in Azkaban and that this was real.

That's all that mattered.

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A/N: Hello! For those you just joining us, you should be aware that this story is the sequel to Bridges. You can find the link to that story located under my author profile.

For those of you who are turning to this turbulent love story: Thank you for holding on and not giving up! I promise resolution and compensation for all of the very mean things I did to Dramione in Bridges. It was all for the sake of the story. The muse made me do it! I swear!

Please **_Review_ **and let me know what you think. I am always open to suggestions, reactions, feelings, feedback, ideas, and constructive criticism when it comes to my stories.

See you next chapter!

On we go!


	2. Into The Light

_I had done wrong; you built your tower…__I know I tried. I was not stable and flawed by pride…__There'll be no value in the strength of walls that I have grown…You may not trust the promises of the change I'll show but…__watch me as I glide before I tumble homeward, homeward…lover of the light._

_Mumford & Sons_

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"Would you like something to drink?" Hermione offered awkwardly. She didn't know the right way to behave around him. In contradiction to her attitude earlier, she was relieved beyond measure that Harry was there with her.

"Water, please," requested Draco meekly; his mouth was beyond dry, but he was used to it. Thirst and hunger were his constant companions while in Azkaban. It was no longer something he thought to complain about.

Hermione conjured a glass on the surface of her desk and filled it with water emitted from her wand. Harry could see the shakiness in her grip and got up to deliver the water to Malfoy. He interjected, took the water from her and give it to him on her behalf. Hermione didn't object but sat back down swiftly, staring at the ghostly man before her in awe.

"Thank you," said Draco as he graciously took the glass from Harry.

Harry was amazed that Malfoy had just thanked him for anything. This wilted man before them had to be a stranger.

Harry pulled up a chair for himself between the two of them as Hermione regained the courage to speak.

"I have to admit Draco…I'm in shock to see you like this," she admitted bluntly.

Draco shrugged as he brought the glass of water up to his lips and slowly drank from it. The water rapidly quenched his thirst; moistening his parched lips on contact. It was an immediate relief.

"I can't image what I must look like to you." It was easier for him to speak now that his mouth had received some hydration. "I haven't seen myself since before my arrest," he admitted without shame.

Harry and Hermione both knew that there were absolutely no luxuries in Azkaban, which included items like mirrors, but they had never encountered the effects of this face to face. Not really; Sirius had always been very vague about his experience during the few occasions he'd spoken about what Azkaban had been like. They were only teenagers at the time of his escape and he hadn't wanted to scare them; but if living in a cave, feasting on rats was preferable to the conditions at Azkaban then they had gotten a pretty good idea of how hard it was to live through the experience.

"You're probably wondering why you're here? At Hogwarts, I mean…with us," said Hermione, redirecting the conversation.

Honestly, Draco hadn't thought about it too much. It didn't really matter to him where he was, as long as he was away from his line marked cell, and never had to go back. "I just know that my probation officer is supposed to be making contact with me sometime soon. That's all I know."

"That's me," spoke up Harry. "I'll be serving as your probation officer. I requested your case."

He didn't need to explain why to Draco, and he didn't ask. It didn't really matter to Draco who took on the responsibility at that moment, even if it was Harry Potter. What he cared to know about was her…

"Why did you come and collect me?" Draco asked Hermione, looking up at her for the first time since they arrived. "I expected a Ministry officer to be there, my attorney, or even one of my parents. I never thought that it would be you…"

They locked eyes and the impact of it froze her for a moment. His face was worn, beaten down, and his eyes had lost some of their glowing spark, but they still were the same grey eyes that she had always known.

"It's a long story really," she began with a quivering voice. "After your trial I took a position here at Hogwarts as Charms instructor. I just couldn't do it anymore…death eater reformation and all that." She gave off a small laugh. "I'm sure you can understand why."

Draco averted his eyes and stared down at his half empty water glass.

Regaining some strength to her voice, she continued on. "Anyway, Harry took over my position at the department and I came here to work. I resumed the position of Headmistress about three years ago after McGonagall stepped down."

"Why am I here?"

"The reason you're here is because of your father." There was a bitterness in her voice as she said this.

"My father?" Draco spoke up and looked to both of them with an expression of confusion. "I had a falling out with him before my arrest. How does he have anything to do with this?"

"If not your Father, then I'm going to assume it's your Mother's doing. Perhaps working through your Father's authority. I don't know all of the details but for the past few months I have been covering the position of potions instructor as well as my duties as headmistress simultaneously. My previous potion's master decided to transfer to Durmstrang with less than three days' notice. I was forced to accommodate his absence to the best of my ability. I couldn't just hire someone out of nowhere that close to the end of year. During this time, your father or your mother, whichever, decided to use this opportunity to your advantage. The entire board of governors decided in unison to offer the available Potions position to you, seemingly, out of nowhere. I was against it, and I still am, but if the board decides on something unanimously then they are able to overrule almost any decision I make. I have no choice but to accommodate their wishes and acclimate you to the position to the best of my ability. That is why I came to collect you and that is why you are here."

Clearly, she was trying to make it known that she hadn't wanted him here and had had no choice in the matter.

"I know that your parents have deep pockets, and I know that they paid them off to get that accomplished with the Board of Governors. I can't prove it though. I'm not going to waste my time trying to, either I'm a fair person, and if the board has decided they are willing to be swayed by your mother's wealth and intentions by instilling a prisoner fresh from Azkaban as a Hogwarts instructor, then I will indulge them. Should you fail, it will reflect on their poor decisions and not mine. Hopefully, they'll learn a lesson from all of this."

Draco could hardly believe what he was hearing. Could all of this really be true? Why would she lie?

"Be warned, however, that even though I have to accept your employment for the time being, your position here is not guaranteed, nor is it set in stone. Know that I do reserve the right to terminate you after a probationary period of six months, so don't get too comfortable if you can avoid it. Also know that you are required to demonstrate yourself capable of performing the job being offered to you. I'll grant you a month to pull yourself together, and freshen up on your potions skills before I administer a comprehension basement. The term begins in two months so should you pass, you'll only have a month to plan your lesson schedule for the year. It's not going to be easy. Your mother should have realized that this will require a great deal of work from you before she wasted her money bribing my board members."

This was a lot of take in at once. Draco could barely see through the mat of hair dripping from his head, let alone conjure up a delicate potion in a cauldron under the pressure of being judged. He hadn't even touched his wand in eighteen years…But if this is what it was going to take for him to survive outside the walls of Azkaban, then he would just have to find a way to make it all work. Although he was broken, he was still determined.

"I'm assigning you to live here at Hogwarts," spoke up Harry. "I want you somewhere I can easily keep an eye on you. You can apparate where you want within reason, use the floo network, fly even, but you can't leave the country until your probation period is over. You don't need my permission to go anywhere, but keep in mind that I'll be dropping in to check on you periodically and that you are being tracked. Starting tomorrow you'll be able to access your Gringotts account, with a restriction on your withdrawal amounts. Your spending will be monitored and recorded by the Ministry until the next two years, along with all wand activity."

"Do you have my wand?" Draco's fingers were itching to hold it once again.

Hermione pulled it out of her cloak and passed it over to Harry who delicately handed it over to Draco.

The pull was almost too strong for him to bear as he was finally reunited with his wand, the bond to his magic finally restored. He was a man again. More importantly, he felt that he was once again a wizard. A trickle of life buzzed down his spine, a sensation that he hadn't felt in eighteen years. For the first time in a long time, it felt good to be alive.

Hermione and Harry watched as the magic of his wand seemed to reflate him. They gave him a moment to relish in the reunion.

Draco eventually broke away from the feeling. "I know that I don't have any credibility right now and I know that I haven't earned back any sort of trust. If you both still hate me after all these years, I absolutely understand why… I just want you both to know that I am unbelievably grateful for this, for your kindness. You may not view your actions as being kind, but after what I've been subjected to, mere acknowledgement is a great charity to my soul. I owe you my absolute devotion Hermione after all I've done and I will spend my life repaying you if you'll allow it."

"I don't need your repayment. I just need you to do your job," stated Hermione coldly. She didn't want him bringing up the past, especially right now. Things were going along relatively smoothly without the emotional baggage and she intending to keep it that way.

Draco stopped himself from continuing his point. If she didn't want go there then he would respect her boundaries, it was her call. "Very well. I won't let you down then."

"We'll see about that." Hermione didn't want to feel anything for Draco. It was bad enough that she felt compelled to pity him in his current state. She didn't want to let herself forget that long hard road they had endured to get to where they were now. She couldn't afford to slip up. Not anymore. She had more than just herself to think of.

"C'mon Malfoy. I'll show you where you'll be staying," offered Harry as she sensed the tension thickening in the room.

Hermione turned her back to Draco without saying goodbye and began occupying herself with a book pulled off of the shelf behind her. She stayed turned away until she heard them both walk out of the room and the door click shut.

Harry led Draco down to the dungeon area, near the Slytherin common rooms. He would be inhabiting Snape's old living quarters. It was dreary in comparison to some of the others rooms, but vastly more bearable than Azkaban.

There was a bed, a dresser, and a desk already furnished in the room for him.

There was also a mirror.

"Until Hermione allows you to come up to the Great Hall for meals, your food will be brought to you here in the room," stated Harry before he shut Draco's door and left without giving him the opportunity to say anything back.

Draco froze in place for a solid minute before he gained the courage to approach the mirror hanging in the corner of the room. For the first time in his life, he was afraid of himself.

Trembling, he slowly brought himself to walk towards his own reflection, but he didn't recognize the person placed in front of him. Standing paralyzed in front of himself, he stared in disbelief at the corpse like man staring back at him through hollow eyes.

His once platinum blonde hair was now yellow, long and dirty; his fair skin now blanched and ridden with filth; his eyes were foggy, sunken in with dark circles; and his lips were pale and stained with dried blood and bruising from biting down on his lip during his sleep in the midst of the night terrors he'd suffered.

The image before him would haunt him forever. Never again would he die like this. He wanted his life back , no matter what it required to get it...

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A/N: I am happily, and humbly, overwhelmed by the support and responses I've received so far. Thank you! I enjoyed reading your reviews. Some of you are really onto something ;) Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	3. A Secret Love Affair

_Something in the way you move makes me feel like I can't live without you; it takes me all the way. I want you to stay…_ _The reason I hold on… 'cause I need this hole gone. Funny you're the broken one but I'm the only one who needed saving. 'Cause when you never see the light it's hard to know which one of us is caving…._

_Rihanna (ft Mikky Ekko)_

_._

Landen Weasley wrapped his arms around his prize and squeezed tightly. She screamed out playfully as he began to tickle her until she finally succumbed into his grasp.

Biting his bottom lip, he gazed upon her beauty with hungry eyes before devouring her soft, succulent lips in a kiss that claimed her as his.

"I don't want you to go," he complained, his temple pressed square against hers. Their bodies remained connected as they spoke, neither lover wanting to pull away from the other.

"I have to get upstairs before my mom gets here. If she comes down here and sees us like this she is going to kill me. You're just lucky that your dad hasn't heard you tickling me yet and caught us down here."

"It's not my fault you're a screamer," teased Landen as he ran a warm hand down the center of Sophia's back, tempting to tickler her again. She blushed profusely, her whole face turning red.

"I love it when you do that," admired Landen, completely love struck with the woman in front of him.

"Blush? It's a terrible habit. I hate that I do it," she disagreed. "My mom hardly ever blushes. She has perfect fucking skin."

"You're beautiful just how you are," argued Landen with a shake of his head. "For the record, I happen to find you way more attractive than your mother."

"Yeah, I'd hope so."

Landen flashed her a charming smile and kissed her again.

She broke away from his affections urgently as her ears perks up in panic. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what? I didn't hear anything." Landen tried to pull her attention back to kissing him but had no success.

"No, I heard my mom." She was adamant about it as she squirmed her way out of Landen's arms and attempted to straighten out her ruffled clothes. Straining her neck to the side she asked with urgency, "You didn't leave any hickies this time did you? I had to make the dumbest excuse last time I got caught with them. It was a pain."

"No, I didn't…darn, let me try again." Landen began to pull her back in, playing with her, but she managed to break free and jump back out of his grasp.

"Landen, no! Stop it."

Landen could hear what she was saying but the giggling made him smile anyway and continue to tease her, giddy in love.

"Sophia!"

"I told you I heard her!" Sophia scolded as she ran upstairs frantically, Landen trailing right behind her.

"I'm right here mom!" answered Sophia as she caught her breath. "I thought you weren't coming until later."

Hermione looked at her daughter skeptically. "I told you that I was coming to get you by seven. It's nearly eight now. You should have been expecting me."

"Sorry, Landen and I were playing exploding snaps and I just lost track of time," bluffed Sophia.

Ron, who had let Hermione inside, was standing beside her with his hands in his pockets. "You know how it is 'Mione. Kids always get carried away when they're having fun."

Sophia hated when Mr. Weasley called her a kid but she just smiled and laughed along with his comment regardless. At least he was supporting her excuse, she was grateful for that much.

"Hermione! I thought I heard you come in!" Janessa exclaimed in her ever-jarring voice as she walked down the stair well towards them. "Sophia was a charm to have over, as usual. I nearly forgot she was here, the house was so quiet. I can't believe she's going to be starting her final year at Hogwrats! Can you? I hardly believe that Landen's already graduated! He's going to start looking for a job this year. They just grow up way too quickly, don't they?"

"That they do," replied Hermione with a half-smile, shuffling awkwardly in place and eager to leave. Time had not fixed the strain she felt towards Ron's wife Janessa. She still found her arrogant, self-absorbed, fake and dim witted and she always would. "Well then, we should get home. It's getting late and I still have to pull dinner together."

"Thought you might be late. Don't worry about it, we already fed her for you," said Ron with a wink as if he were expecting her gratitude.

"Er…thanks, Ron. Still… we should be getting on home. Thank you so much for letting her hang out here with Landen while I took care of work matters. I really appreciate it."

Landen was leaning against the banister of the stairs making funny faces at Sophia from behind his mother's back while Ron and Hermione awkwardly exchanged small talk. Sophia bit her lip and tried to refrain from laughing out loud.

"Sure thing. Just, before you go 'Mione, d'you mind if I grab your ear for a quick second?" Ron asked.

"Sure…," agreed Hermione against her true wishes. We wanted to leave, but knowing Ron he wasn't going to let up until she granted him an audience with her.

"I'll be upstairs waiting for you love," cooed Janessa as she rescinded back up the stairs.

"Sure thing darling. I'll be up shortly. Just have to speak with Hermione real quick."

"Don't take too long," said Janessa in a sing-song voice.

Landen pretended to gag and Sophia accidently snorted.

Janessa always acted jealous when Hermione came around. It was stupid. Hermione had always treated Ron with coldness, if not utter rudeness whenever she was forced to interact with him. Their relationship deteriorated ages ago in Hermione's mind; Ron, however, had failed to get the memo.

Ron pulled Hermione aside to the next room to speak with her. Taking advantage of their parent's absence, Landen pulled Sophia up the stairs and into his arms for a series of quick stolen kisses, causing her to blush twice as furiously as she had earlier.

"What is it Ron?" asked Hermione, short on her patience with him.

"I just wanted to know if the two of you are doing alright. Do you need money or anything? You know you just have to ask and I'm I'll be here for the both of you. I was fine having her over tonight and feeding her and everything, we love having her, but if you need a hand you just have to ask and I'm there."

Hermione hated when he did this. She absolutely hated it.

Sophia didn't know who her father was, and neither did Hermione. Ron loved to hint subtly that he believed himself to be her biological father through passive aggressive conversations he stole on occasion with Hermione; like the one they were having right now. He had never, at any point, flat out asked Hermione if he was Sophia's father. She knew that he would never do that, because if she told him he was Sophia's father then he'd have to come clean to his plastic wife and risk losing everything he'd obtained in life.

All of this, because of one drunken night when Hermione stupidly believed she could make amends for her parents' death by passively consenting to Ron having his way with her. Even now, she was unclear on if she had been raped or if she had just been stupid beyond recognition. In truth, she preferred not to think about. Dwelling on the past would never change its outcome. By now, she knew that as a fact. All she could do was try and learn from her mistakes, and that night was the sole reason she no longer drank alcohol.

Hermione knew deep down that it was absolutely possible Ron was Sophia's father, but she preferred to ignore the idea. She was doing fine as a single mother. Hogwarts had provide her with the perfect community to raise her child in. She still lived in the castle with Sophia and constantly had the help of Harry, Ginny, the Weasleys, and other staff at Hogwarts who were willing to lend a helping hand whenever she had felt overwhelmed with her responsibilities. She was fortunate and blessed despite all she had been through.

It was true that she also realized the other alternative to Sophia's origin as well; that Draco was Sophia's father and not Ron. Some days, the idea of that seemed even worse to her. How could she explain that to her daughter? Sophia had asked on many times who her father might be and for seventeen years, Hermione had diverted the conversation. What would she say? _"Your father is either a married idiot or a deatheater rotting away in Azkaban for playing a role in the murder of your grandparents. Take your pick!_

It wasn't like she could look as Sophia and tell an obvious answer, either. She had watched her grow up and every day she looked at her she looked more and more like her mother. It was a compliment and a curse. As far as she was concerned, Sophia didn't have a father. She had a mother who loved her than anything in the universe and, as far as Hermione was concerned, that was all she needed and all she was going to get.

"I've told you before Ron, I don't need your help with Sophia. I appreciate all you've done to help up but I've never asked you for anything."

Like usual, Ron would interpret whatever Hermione said as some type of back handed bribe to keep her mouth shut to Janessa. Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out a small money-sack that was filled with galleons and slipped it discreetly into her palm. "There's more where that came from, if you need it. Just let me know." He assured her as he patted the tom of her hand and secured it into her hand.

"I don't need your money Ron." She always insisted on giving it back…

"I'm not accepting it back. Just know that you're doing a great job with her." He always refused to take it back.

She had long stopped fighting with him about it. It just wasn't worth the stress. Every bit of money he had given her to help with Sophia, she had set aside in an account at Gringotts to prepare for her graduation. That money would help her daughter establish her own life one day. If Ron wanted to donate to it out of the heart of his guilt then so be it. Who was she to stop something that would benefit her child?

"Harry told me that you went to collect Malfoy from Azkaban today."

He had to bring it up.

"Did he now?" Hermione was not in the mood to talk about this, least of all with Ron.

"How'd it go? I mean…how'd he look?"

"Like he'd spent nearly two decades in Azkaban, Ron." She responded flatly. "Look, I really don't feel like discussing it. Like is said earlier, I really need to get home. Sophia made have had dinner with you, but I didn't and still need to get home and finish a last few bits of work."

"Right, well uh, I won't take up any more of your time then. Just let me know if you do wanna…you know, talk about it or need help or anything."

"Sure thing Ron." Hermione walked past him and back into the main entryway where Sophia was sitting on the staircase with Landen talking.

"You ready to go love?"

Sophia nodded, leaned over and hugged the young man beside her; making sure their interaction was as plain and friendly as possible to ward of any kind of suspicion. "Night Landen."

"Night Sophia." He caught her eye on her way out and winked at her a final time. She blushed for the last time that night before slipping out the door after her mother.

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A/N: I told myself I was going to try to upload chapters only once a week...and then I got bored waiting two hours in the cafeteria for my night class to start. So, here you go! A week early! lol I have up to chapter 7 written but I have to revise and edit, and I dont want to get burned out. My inspiration hits me in bursts. Those of you who have been following my writing already know that.

On a separate note, I updated **_On The_ Run** today as well and I've been re-rereading **_Torn_. **If any of you get impatient waiting for the Dramione to begin you should swing by and read that story. It's full of sexy, awesome Dramione and its a completed story._  
_

Thanks for the reviews!

See you next chapter!


	4. A Ghost of a Son

_There is no way I'll ever beat that man. I will get up, again and again. You can bury my bloody body wherever it lands…_

_Sean Hayes_

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It took two weeks for Draco to transform himself back to something that began to resemble the man he had been before Azkaban.

He was still too thin for his liking, but he recognized that it would take time for him to add the weight back on. For now, he was satisfied with the improvements he had made. His hair lacked its typical old shine, but for now it was clean, cut, and brighter than it had been.

It was amazing what real sleep could do to heal the body. His skin felt like it could breathe again, and the circles under his eyes were already receding. His body relished sleeping in an actual bed. In the last couple weeks, he'd only woken up twice with night terrors, neither of which were as intense as the ones he remembered suffering while in Azkaban. He was vastly improving day by day.

Draco could finally look at his reflection without cringing. He welcomed the return of his former self.

As he stared into his reflection, analyzing his progress, he tried on his trade mark smirk for a moment just to make sure he still had it in him. It was still there.

He wasn't broken.

When he awoke that morning, he found a rather thick study guide sitting on his desk; likely left by one of the house elves at Hermione's request. Skimming it over, the knowledge of Potion Conjuring began to flicker back into his mind. There was a time when he was the most skilled student at the topic within his Slytherin Class. Hermione may have grabbed top marks in everything during their school days, but she didn't have the same eye for potions that he'd had. It took more than just top marks to be a genuine Potions Master. He grew up knowing Snape his entire life, and practically mentored under him. There were things he knew that Snape had never uttered to the rest of his students over his entire career.

The memory of Snape made him smile slightly. It was a silly thing, but his mother had always refused to believe that he had ever been true member of the Order during the war. He was sure that, even to this day, she believed the whole idea of it to be slander; despite her own betrayal to the Dark Lord in the final days.

Thinking of this mother now, he couldn't help but wonder how she was. Was she still alive? His father as well? Prisoners rarely receive any form of news or updates in Azkaban, even in cases of family and death. They had been completely shut off from the world. If something had happened to them during his imprisonment, he doubted Harry or Hermione would have taken it upon themselves to let him know. It wasn't their job to update him on the life he'd missed while he was away.

Making his mind up to find out what had become to them, he did his best to make himself look presentable and decided it would be best if he arrived at his parents' house unannounced. The last time he had met with his father, face to face, he had basically assaulted and threatened him. It would be expected that he may be unwelcomed at his family manor.

Draco walked cautiously through the halls as he made his made way out to the grounds. He couldn't floo to the Manor. Surprising his parents like that would likely result in his death. He would have to apparate to the front door and ask for entrance like a stranger to his childhood home.

Nothing got past Peeves in this castle. As soon as Draco passed by the double doors of the Great Hall, he began to trail him; howling like, what he clearly believed to be, a dementor.

Draco had learned a long time ago that reacting to Peeves only served to make him target you more frequently. The angrier you got, the more he tried to prank you. The last thing he needed to do was lose his temper during his first month of release. Irritated but patient, Draco had managed to ignore him completely until he made it outside where Peeves finally drifted away, unable to follow him outside of the castle.

It felt unusual to be apparating on his own again; at the same time, it was immensely freeing. Never again would he take for granted the ability to go somewhere at will. His freedom would now stand as his most prized possession.

/

The Manor looked just like it had when he'd left it; grand, aged, and majestic. It was comforting to know that some things never changed.

A house elf greeted him as he approached the door, squinting its big, glossy eyes at him suspiciously. Realization spread over its wrinkled face and it soon looked petrified as it realized who he was.

"Y-young M-Master Malfoy has returned from Azkaban?" Gradually, the elf's demeanor changed from appearing as if it'd just seen a ghost, to appearing excited to be holding a juicy piece of news that it was anxious to deliver. "Oh, the Mistress will be most pleased, yes she will! Master on the other hand…Oh, Master will be having a terrible temper for sure."

The elf muttered to itself as it scuttled away to fetch Narcissa, leaving Draco alone at the front door. He welcomed himself through the threshold and waited in the foyer with his hands in his pockets.

Within minutes, Narcissa appeared at the top of the staircase clutching at her chest as if she would faint.

"Draco!" She breathed out before rushing down towards him. Draco didn't make her wait until she'd made it to the bottom to greet him, and met her half way up the stairs.

Narcissa embraced him tightly and began to weep. "Look at you Draco. It's you. You're back. You're really here." Her weathered hands began to examine his worn face frantically, her voice filled with maternal worry. "Oh, what did they do to you? What have they done to my son?"

Compared to a couple weeks ago, Draco thought he looked great. But he knew what his mother had meant; he had changed.

"Mother…I was worried you wouldn't see me."

"Nothing, and I mean nothing, would ever keep me apart from you Draco. I don't care what you've done. It doesn't matter." Narcissa shook her head as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

The moment was paused as Lucius walked out and looked down at them both from the top of the staircase.

"I wanted to see if it was true, what the house elf was saying," he drawled but made no attempt to approach Draco.

Draco, too, remained stationary.

"It's true. I'm back out," he stated simply.

"I see. Let's see if you can manage to stay that way." Lucius nodded his head in departure and walked away from them coldly.

Draco scowled in his Father's direction. Almost twenty years and that's the best greeting he could give his wayward son? The feelings of anger he'd felt towards the man before going to Azkaban began to re-emerge; how he'd forsaken him when he renounced his blood purity, how he had tried to kill Hermione after she helped him in his hour of need, and then defended the attempt when he realized Draco had loved her.

"Don't mind your Father. He wouldn't have come out at all if he hadn't wanted to see you. He's happy you're back out…he just wouldn't ever show it. You know how he can be," said Narcissa as she began to fuss with Draco's hair. "It's so thin compared to what it used to be. It'll grow back to its old state though. You just need time to take care of yourself."

It was an awkward transition of conversation, but it sufficed to draw his attention away from the rage he felt towards his father.

"I know. I just need time."

"Come. Let me get you something to eat. You look like you've been starved."

Draco didn't argue with his mother as she hurried him along to the kitchen.

The house elves prepared a meal for the two of them, which he gratefully accepted. He found that the food at Hogwarts was surprisingly better. Then again, results tend to be better in a positive atmosphere. Malfoy Manor had always been a cold, tense please full of lies, and secrets; very unlike Hogwarts. The elves at the Manor were likely miserable, angry, bitter, or deranged; which showed in the results of everything they did.

Narcissa began to fuss over Draco again as soon as they finished eating. "Your nailed need to be cleaned."

Draco had been scrubbing them for days but they were hopelessly stained from the wear of the rock he had been carving into for eighteen years. They would have to grow back out to their previous state before they would once again obtain a healthy color and allure.

"I'm living at Hogwarts," said Draco, trying to avert his mother's attention to something other than his appearance.

"I know. I helped arrange it for you."

"Why? I could have come home and stayed with you."

Narcissa shook her head. "Your father would never allow that. You know how he is, he holds grudges. He still hasn't forgive you for…"

"For locking him in that stupid room? I'm sure you found him barely an hour after I left that day."

Narcissa continued to shake her head and began to bit at her nails like she didn't want to say what she was thinking.

"For being involved in the murder Blaise committed then? Surely, he wishes I had been the one to do it myself. I know how he feels about that. I don't care what he thinks. I never should have been there to begin with."

"No, for that girl…that _mudblood_ you were fraternizing with."

"Hermione?" Draco felt a territorial rage flash inside his chest that he wasn't expecting to be burning after all those years.

"Yes, that one. You know that he takes the matter of our blood line very seriously. Any foul mark upon our name, in our lineage, and we would be ruined."

"Ruined in whose eyes? The Dark Lord is dead. It doesn't matter to anyone anymore."

"It matters Draco! How can you not see that now, especially after your time away? They are beneath us. They're less intelligent, they're dirty, vile and hostile. It would ruin our blood line if you had caused something…permanent with her. It would be a mistake we could never recover from."

"I don't agree mother, but it's not worth discussing. I came here to see you, not to talk about such things." Draco tried his best to bite his tongue and not argue with her. His mother had always intended the best for him, and loved him despite their differences. Still, she was a Malfoy and that meant she shared Lucius's beliefs when it came to blood purity. At her age, that wasn't likely to ever change.

"I don't want to argue about that either. I'm just glad you're back." Narcissa reached out and caressed his cheek lovingly. "I know that it must be wretched for you to be back at Hogwarts with that filthy girl, but I wanted you to be somewhere safe. I knew Lucius wouldn't let you come back here and I couldn't think of anywhere else for you to go. We could have bought you your own flat, but I worried about you being alone. Whenever Lucius came back from Azkaban, it was as if he were followed by a ghost…It disturbed me, and I don't want that for you."

"So you bribed the Board of Governors to get me a job?"

"What's the point of having leverage and influence if you never use it?" Narcissa smiled proudly. "Your father didn't object, so I did what I could. Anything to get you back on your feet Draco."

Lucius hadn't objected because he wanted to remain far from Draco; out of hatred, and although his father would never admit to it, fear.

"You have to be careful though. I know that we must have placed you in danger with the mudblood having her run of the place. You should know that she can't fire you during the first six months of your employment. As long as you avoid any marks on your record, you'll be able to call for an appeal before the board if she threatens to terminate you after. I won't let her do that to you. She may have been an adequate teacher, but she won't last as Headmistress. It's laughable to think that a muggle-born could ever do justice to the position."

"I'll do my best. So far, she's been very hospitable towards me."

Hermione hadn't seen or spoken to Draco since she had collected him from Azkaban. Even so, she could have chosen to be cold and cruel to him, instead of distance and indifferent. Anger and hostility towards him would have been expected; but instead, she had given him shelter, employment opportunity, food, and comfort. Apparently, she hadn't had much choice in the matter; but she still chose to approach their situation with grace and compliance, and for that Draco was grateful.

"Who did they assign as your probation officer?" Narcissa asked with concern. "Your Father and I tried our best to arrange someone we favored, but were unable."

"Harry Potter," answered Draco with distaste.

Narcissa gasped and leaned back in her chair, fanning herself dramatically. "No…he's going to try and put you back there isn't it?" Her voice was filled with dread as she feared her son returning to Azkaban because of Potter.

"I don't know what his intentions are, but there's nothing I can do about it."

"I suppose that's true, but still…He goes mad whenever he's given any form of power."

Draco couldn't tell if the tears welling in his mother's eyes were real or for the sake of a dramatic response to the news, either way they were convincing.

"I just don't want to see them put you back there," she wept as she reached out and clutched onto his hand desperately. "You're my only child. I had intended so much for you Draco. So many great things and they took all of my dreams away when they snatched you from me."

"They haven't taken everything. I'm still here and I'm still standing. There's still time for me to make a life for myself. Don't give up hope, Mother."

"Please take care of yourself Draco," pleaded Narcissa. "If anything were to happen to you, I don't know what I'd do. I've barely held myself together without you."

"I'm not going anywhere. Mother. You don't have to worry."

Draco pulled his mother into a sympathetic hug and looked up just in time to see his Father watching them from the hallway. The moment their eyes locked he quickly walked away as if he'd just been passing by; refusing to acknowledge any connection to the son he'd once had in Draco.

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A/N: During the last chapter of **Bridges, **I presented a _**Writer's Challenge.**_All responses to this challenge will be highlighted in the AN section of this story. You can write a one-shot for this challenge at anytime and will find the details on my profile page.

Here are my thoughts on the first entry:

**Beyond the Veil _(Author: Serenarian1)_**

This one-shot was great and a perfect reflection of what I'm looking for. Serenarian1 perfectly captured the feel of the song O'Death by Jen Titus. The story is sad, tragic, and still romantic. The Dramione in this is haunting. You should swing by this one-shot and give it a read and review. It will be well deserved.

A/N (2): One a separate note, I want to acknowledge a topic that has been coming up in the reviews for this story as well as Bridges: **I do not think that sexual assault and rape are topics that should be used or taken lightly.** I have never used these topics in my writing lightly, or for mere 'entertainment'. My objective has never been to offend people. Sexual assault is a real tragedy that happens to too many people, both women and men. I understand the seriousness of that and **_applaud any and all survivors of abuse for their resilience and bravery!_** That being said, these terrible things do happen in real life and so I chose to reflect the reality of that in my stories. **I don't believe in limitations when it comes to creative writing**. I hope that I approach and resolve these painful topics respectfully when they occur in my writing, but I will not apologize for my use of these topics. Silence is a breeding ground for ignorance and these are topics that become incredibly dangerous if they are permitted to be ignored and censored.


	5. Empty Cauldrons and Vanishing Hearts

_You're doing fine. Seems like you're doing well, as far as I can tell. Time is leaving us behind; another week has passed, and still I haven't laughed yet. So tell me what your secret is to letting go…_ _Maybe that's just your way of dealing with the pain; forgetting everything between our rise and fall, like we never loved at all…_

_Faith Hill_

_._

A month had passed since his arrival at Hogwarts. Slowly, but surely, the color was returning to Draco's skin, the thickness of his hair was returning, the faded grey color of his nails was disappearing, his eyes shone brighter, and his spirit felt less broken with each passing hour.

Choosing to stay confined to his room and study, Draco had hardly interacted with anyone in the castle; least of all Hermione. He heard from Harry almost daily, even if it was only for a few brief moments. It was incredibly apparent that he didn't trust Draco. He supposed it was with reason, but unfortunately for Potter he had managed to keep his nose impeccably clean.

The thought of seeing Hermione today to be tested for the Potions position he'd accrued through the leverage of his parents, was bringing up feelings of guilt and yearning to compensate for his mistakes.

Draco had already bathed three time that day. He knew that it was the effect Azkaban had on him that made him feel constantly dirty, but he found it difficult to fight the impulse to try to clean away the grimy feeling he felt rising up from the pit of his stomach. He ran out of time to bathe for a fourth time as the hour of their appointment approached.

Each nerve in his body was electrified as he anxiously made his way to the Potions classroom where he knew Hermione would be waiting.

If it were possible for a heart to jump out of a chest then Hermione's would be on the floor. The pounding of her heartbeat was echoing through her body as she stood behind the workbench and waited for the classroom door to open, and for Draco to enter.

Harry was supposed to be there with her so she wouldn't have to be alone with him. Unfortunately, there had been an emergency at the reformation department of the Ministry that he was required to deal with first. One of the program participants had attacked a muggle woman, and Harry was required to be there to access the severity of the situation. There was nothing he could do but attend to his duties before his favor to be by Hermione's side as she faced Draco for his assessment.

It wasn't as if Hermione was truly afraid of Draco; she figured he'd had gotten back some of his strength by now but it didn't faze her. There was just something about his presence that intimidated. It wasn't as if she was still in love with him; not to say that she truly hated him, either. It was a confusing predicament that she couldn't place into words.

The truth of the matter was that Hermione didn't know how she truly felt about Draco being out of Azkaban. Her emotions and thoughts were circulating so quickly that it made her dizzy to try and focus on them. She couldn't trust herself and that made her feel afraid to be alone around him. Parts of her were indifferent towards him, others violent, and a certain fraction still felt undeniably passionate. Their reunion had potential for a volatile reaction regardless of the way it was stirred. The best hope Hermione had to retain her sanity was to distance herself as much as possible; remain separated from her feelings and conduct herself in a professional manner at all times.

There was no time to back out. School would be starting in a little over a month. Hermione knew that a month to plan a year's worth of lessons, especially so close to the first semester, was a daunting task. She would risk serious criticism by the Governors of Hogwarts if she gave Draco any less time to prepare than a month and she would be damned if she let this situation discredit her ability to perform as Headmistress of this school.

Therefore, it was too late to reschedule her meeting with Draco, despite Harry's inability to function as a mediator between her past and her feelings. She would have to proceed with their meeting on her own.

The handle of the door began to turn. Hermione straightened up her posture, collected her thoughts, and made sure her expression was professional and indifferent as was realistically possible.

'_Never let them see you sweat, Hermione.'_ She reminded herself mentally and prepared to face the only man who could rile her up to the point of emotional confusion and turmoil; her mind had once been a calm, clear and collected space and she struggled to find that clarity again.

Draco's palms were sweaty as he turned the door handle and slowly entered the classroom. He looked up to find Hermione standing with a fiercely severe expression on her face as she waited for him behind the potions workbench. For a moment he thought that he might be late, because of the look on her face, but a glance up at the clock confirmed that he was five minutes early.

He didn't dare speak first. Instead he slowly approached the desk, maintaining a fair amount of space between them, and waited for her to address him.

"Malfoy." Hermione acknowledged quietly. Her voice stern and flat, but there was a curious twinkle behind her steady gaze. The last time she saw him, he was ragged and unkempt; and now she couldn't help but notice how much he was starting to look like the man she remembered.

Draco addressed her back politely, "Hermione."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at this. She had expected him to respond with Granger, not with her first name. Especially since majority of her staff addressed her as Professor Granger, unless they were very close.

Regardless, it wasn't worth over thinking. She picked up a checklist and prepared herself for the assessment.

"I trust your accommodations have been adequate?" She asked, shortly.

"More than adequate," insisted Draco. "You've been far more generous to me than you needed to be," admitted Draco. From the tense look on her face, this didn't seem to be what she wanted to hear. How this had been the wrong thing to say was beyond him. It was the truth and he stood by it. He had expected a cold and lonely reunion to the Wizarding world and that hadn't been the case at all. She was partially responsible for that whether she'd admit it or not.

"I see…well that's…that's fine then." She was about to say that could be changed, but what was the point? Why threaten to make Draco's stay here less than comfortable? What purpose would that serve? She was acting unstable and needed to get her act together before she tried to delegate him. What was most important, was that he took her seriously as his superior. Their past was irrelevant to their present situation. "Are you prepared for this assessment? You have your wand, I trust?"

Draco cautiously pulled his wand out from beneath his robes. He was careful not to make any sharp, sudden movements and accidently startle her. He could tell that she was as nervous as he was on the inside. Hermione had always been as readable as the books she loved.

"Good…in front of you is a list of 5 potions; all of an advanced nature. You will have the next 6 hours to brew them at an adequate level or higher. Do you have any questions about that?"

Draco diverted his attention and looked down at the list laid before him on the table.

_Everklena…Noxious Potion…Chelidonium Miniscula…Essence of Dittany…_

The last potion on the list caught him off guard.

_Amortentia…_

Amortentia was the world's strongest love potion known to date. It had the power to cause obsession, and dangerous infatuation in the person who consumed it. The scent it gave off varied from person to person, taking the form of whichever scent they found most attractive and reminded them of the person that they truly loved.

Draco didn't need to complete the potion to know exactly who his potion was going to remind him of…

Hermione waited for Draco's eyes to reach the bottom of the list. "Everything you need is located in the storage shelves around you. All ingredients are organized within them alphabetically. If you need additional supplies, cauldrons, scales or any other tools, you will find them in the lower cupboards.

Draco nodding in understanding and rolled up his sleeves, ready to undertake the challenge before him. He'd be reviewing his potion brewing skills all month, brushing up on information every night in the study guide he'd received and the library potion texts. Although he was definitely nervous, he felt well prepared and almost confidant.

"I'll be checking in on you every hour to check on your progress," informed Hermione as she walked past him and exited the room, hiding a flustered look on her face. Draco pretended not to notice and diverted his attention to the task before him.

The first two hours were the hardest.

The success of each potion relied heavily on proper preparation and initial temperature of each cauldron. Draco was so focused on getting this right that he was completely obvious to Hermione as she came into the room to check on his progress the first two times.

Once the third hour came by, Draco allowed himself to breath for a moment. He conjured himself a glass of water and took a quick bathroom break. It was the only one he could afford to have. The next two hours were going to be a juggle and if he missed anything, he would be in terrible trouble come the final hour. The last hour was going to be most crucial and would require his undivided attention and he wanted to make sure he would be prepared.

Draco returned from his bathroom break to find Hermione looking over his cauldron of _Everklena_, the contents were currently a bubbling yellow paste. When it was finished it would turn into a thin substance, and clear as fresh water.

For a fleeting moment, Draco wondered if Hermione had tried to sabotage any of his potions while he had been out of the room, but knew that the effects of that would be obvious. Besides, he knew Hermione to be a woman of integrity and honesty, despite whatever her personal feelings may be towards him now.

Draco approached the work bench and set back to work as Hermione watched him silently, circling around his projects intently as she gauged his progress. A few times he saw her write a note onto her note pad and nod her head in thought. He tried his best not to think about what she may be writing.

Hermione was stifling yawns by the fourth hour. It was starting to get late but Draco couldn't allow himself to get tired and lose focus. The entire time, neither had spoken a single word to the other. There had only been a few fleeting glances that neither person would ever admit to if confronted.

Harry showed up just before the fifth hour and met with Hermione outside the door.

"How's he doing in there?"

"Surprisingly well," she truthfully replied with a tired sigh.

"You sound excited," remarked Harry sarcastically.

Hermione shrugged. "I'm indifferent. If he does well then I don't have to worry about finding a new Potions instructor in only a month's time. If he fails, I don't have to see his face ever again."

"That's true." Harry admitted. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here on time." Harry stifled a long yawn, covering it with the back of his hand; it had been a long and stressful day for him.

"It's alright. I remember what it's like. You had to take care of things. Is everything under control now?"

"Oh yeah, and the idiot has been removed from the program; attack an old woman on a muggle bus because he thought she was spying on him. Ridiculous. She was wearing a hearing aid and he thought it was some kind of muggle recording device…," Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Guy was nuts, completely paranoid and detached from reality. He belongs in Azkaban. I'm not even sure how he slipped past into the program."

The idea of anyone belonging in Azkaban seemed slightly odd to her now that she had seen the effects of a long term stay first hand in Draco, but she didn't say anything.

"I can stay till the end now, if you still need me," offered Harry.

He looked absolutely worn out, as he hadn't slept in days. Hermione felt bad asking him to stay when she'd handled things adequately thus far.

"No Harry, that's alright. You look really tired. You should go home to Ginny and catch up on your sleep. I'm fine here. Besides, he's almost done."

"Are you sure? I don't want to abandon you completely when I said that I'd be here for you."

"I'm positive. Thanks though."

Hermione said goodbye to Harry then slipped back into the classroom for her fifth update on Draco's progress.

The last hour was so intense and animated that Hermione decided to stay and watch Draco at work.

Having the audience didn't help Draco's nerves and clearly served to intensify his stress, but Hermione was almost too mesmerized watching him work to care.

She hated to admit it, but she was impressed with his ability and skill. Money may have gotten him in the door, but intelligence and practice was clearly going to allow him to stay. It was incredible what he remembered how to do after being away for so long.

To her surprise, Draco finished all five potions with fifteen minutes to spare, which he used to clean up his work space and made his potions look presentable for her. He respectfully stepped away from the table when his time was up and allowed her more than enough space to inspect his work without needing to feel uncomfortable.

Scribbling furiously onto her notes, Hermione took her time writing comments on each potions' appearance, texture, temperature, color, and aroma. Draco noticed her stop briefly in her tracks as she hovered over the last cauldron…the love potion _Amortentia_. For a moment, he thought he saw her look up at him as she wafted her hand over the cauldron to make note of the scent, but it was more likely that his imagination was just playing tricks on him.

After Hermione had walked past each potions, she conjured up five separate vials and began to bottle up samples of each to take with her.

"I have to share these results with at least two other active professors in good standing, as well as the Board of Governors before any official decision can be made on your employment as Potions Master." Hermione pocketed all five vials and headed for the classroom door.

To his dismay, she waved her wand before she left and all five potions vanished. Draco now stood before five empty cauldrons, with nothing to show for his hard work. As he stared at the last cauldron, empty at the end of the table, he suspected that she had been worried about him having access to _Amortentia_, but she didn't need to be. He knew that he would never take advantage of her like that.

Draco was about to put the empty cauldrons away and leave when Hermione suddenly reappeared, peeking her head into the door way.

"Just so you know, it may take a couple of days for me to get everything in order and come to a concise decision on your placement here. I can't say anything for sure right now, but you should know that I would recommend you getting a head start on your lesson plans. That's all."

Then she slipped away into the hallway without a goodbye.

Draco could help but feel an elation of pride in himself. He put away the cauldrons, cleaned up the last of his mess and headed back to his room.

For the first time in a long time, Draco fell asleep feeling accomplished; a small smile planted on his face as he slept soundly through the night and eagerly awaited a new day.

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A/N: Thank you for the overwhelming amount of reviews. I'm super excited about this story. Just a quick FYI: my next update may take a little bit because I'm going on vacation for a week. I don't know where I'm going, which is the fun part! My best friend is taking me on a trip and I won't get to find out where we're going until I arrive at the airport! All I know is that where I live has been as cold as 50 below zero lately and where I'm going to requires swimsuits and provides unlimited booze. I'm sold! I'll let you know how it is when I get back.

In the meantime, while you're waiting for the chapter, you should check out this next story that was written for the _**Bridge's Writer's Challenge:**_

**It's So Easy To Be Wrong-(Author: Divess)**

This one shot will really take you on a turbulent, but romantic, journey through Dramione. Inspired by the song 'Not Ready to Make Nice' she brings you to a place of anger towards love then resolves the story to the kind of romantic conclusion that we all yearn for. Draco is charming and smug in this fanfiction, which is very true to character. Divess is one of my biggest reviewers here on FF and I have great respect for her feedback. Divess has an eye for stories, and a gift for writing plotlines that most writers only hope to acquire. Fantastic Read! Go give it a read and leave a review! It will be well deserved.


	6. Weight of the Past

_Where do we go from here, while we're all so consumed by fear? I'm trying not to be suspicious towards those I'm suspicious of, I'm trying to crack open this angry heart and find a little love…_ _Yes our past is wretched, true, but I'm still in love with you and that's why I am still refusing to give in to all this worry…_ _All that I can think about is how we've seen better days…_

_Amos Lee_

_._

Draco was just about to head to the library and get some research done on Potions instruction to use for his tentative lesson plans when he received an owl from Hermione instructing him to promptly come to her office.

The walk to her office seemed to be miles away from where he was. Draco knew he had done a satisfactory job at his assessment performance, but that didn't comfort him much. Certain that Hermione could find a way to thwart his success if she put her mind to it, he decided not to feel overly confident about anything as of yet.

The stairway leading up to her office was unlocked and the archway was open. It shut behind him as he ascended the stairs and walked into her office.

Once again, they were alone.

"You can have a seat there," invited Hermione as she pointed to the same armchair he had sat in when he initially arrived.

"I can admit that I was impressed with your performance at the assessment," she began, to his surprise. He had not expected her to pay him any compliments. It felt good to receive her recognition. Draco felt himself sit up a little straighter as he listened to Hermione continue.

"I had assumed that you would be rusty after so many years of not using magic, and I had concern that you would still have a long way to come. Instead, you stepped up to the challenges presented to you, and I was hardly able to write any critical comments about your performance." She reached over and passed him a copy of his results.

Draco scanned them over, but not in detail. From what he could tell, she had been exceedingly fair in her observations and reactions. He could read it in depth later, when he was alone in his room.

"I submitted a copy of this to the Board of Governors two days ago and they responded back almost instantly with their support for your immediate hire. Your samples were tested in detail by myself, Madam Pompfrey, and Professor Weasley and all were found to be adequate, if not surpassing of our standards of quality and function."

"Professor Weasley?" Draco interrupted. Surely, she wasn't referring to Ron, was she? The last thing Draco wanted to worry about was the idea of working with that idiot.

"Ginny retired from her position in the Department of Mysteries a few years before I made Headmistress so I asked her to come on as Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. You'll also know Professor Chang from our school days, who is teaching my former topic of Charms, and Professor Patil who is our current Divinations teachers. If you have any more questions regarding the staff, you'll find a directory located in your desk back in your room"

Draco nodded in understanding and reclined back into his chair, but quickly sat up again as Hermione stood up from behind her desk and made her way over to him.

To his surprise, she extended her hand. "So, that means congratulations are in order for you. Welcome to the staff Professor Malfoy."

Draco stood up, standing slightly taller than her even in her heels. He intended to accept the gesture presented before him, but found that his hand wouldn't move.

Hermione anxiously lifted herself onto her toes then bounced back onto her heel as she awkwardly waited for him to return her hand shake.

"Wow uh…," Draco shook himself out of his frozen daze and firmly grasped her hand, shaking if furiously. "Thank you so much Hermione…"

"It'll be Professor Granger or Headmistress now," she quickly corrected him and he sharply dropped his hand from hers, along with his enthusiasm.

Hermione was relieved that his hands were no longer colder than ice, but they were still noticeably calloused and rough. Draco found her hands to be exactly as he had remembered them, soft and warm.

He tried to refocus his thinking and keep his mind away from dwelling on the feel of her touch. That train of thought would only serve to torment him.

"Right. Headmistress…Thank you."

It was Hermione who walked away first and returned to sit behind her desk. "You have my clearance to go virtually anywhere you'd like within the Hogwarts grounds."

Draco sat back down and listened to her orientation.

"That means your meals will no longer be brought to your room by the castle elves. You'll be expected to join the rest of the staff in the Great Hall. I will send a small booklet that I expect you to read as soon as you are able. It will highlights your rights and responsibilities as a Hogwarts instructor, outlining things like detentions, the point award system, standard protocols, emergency situations and that sort of thing."

"I'll read it as soon as I get back to my room." Agreed Draco compliantly.

"Great, and have you gotten a start on your lesson plans?"

Draco had brought his work with him. He suspected that if things went well that she would inquire about them and he was right. He walked over and set down his progressing lesson plans which Hermione immediately began to sift through.

"This looks fairly alright...I want you to drop off your completed lesson plans to my office a week before term starts so I can give you feedback on a few things though. I just want to make sure you're prepared."

Instead of getting up and returned the packet back to Draco, she levitated it with her wand and it returned to his lap. She didn't want to approach him again. Being that close to him had made her feel unexpectedly nervous in a way that she hadn't experienced the other day during her assessment of him.

"I have one more thing I need to speak with you about before you go back to your room, Professor Malfoy."

Draco listened attentively as she shuffled his lesson plans back into order. Was she about to ask him about his stay in Azkaban, or tell him how his crimes had impacted her life? The cold professionalism she was displaying was incredibly hard to read past.

"Unfortunately, I have not had any Slytherin alumni under my employ in the last three years. It's been five years total since we have any staff from the Slytherin house, actually. Before me, Professor McGonagall was standing in as head of Slytherin house; as is required of the Headmaster or mistress when any position is vacant within the school. Now that you're here however, the position is entitled to you should have choose to accept it. It does carry additional responsibilities, but also comes at a higher pay grade. Are you interested?"

"Absolutely I'll do it," accepted Draco without hesitation. It was a great honor for him as a proud member of the Slytherin house. There was no way he would pass up the opportunity.

He was amazed at his fortune and how far his life had come in just a month.

"I thought you might be enthusiastic about it. I will sent you details concerning the position to your room as well and inform the rest of the staff. Although it's written in your directory, you should know that Professor Chang is head of Ravenclaw House, Professor Weasley is head of Gryffindor, and Professor Rivers, Oliver Rivers, is head of Hufflepuff. I don't believe you've ever met his acquaintance, although he did attend Hogwarts during our year. He works as the flying instructor for the first year students, and helps to set up and regulate all of our quidditch practices and games. I know the students will all be happy, and relieved, to hear that a Gryffindor will no longer be required to regulate their house after today. I'm sure they'll find your methods and viewpoints to be more fairly aligned with theirs."

Draco knew what she meant. Regardless of generation, Slytherin held a certain air of pride and elitism that other houses just couldn't understand or mimic if they tried.

"Well, unless you have any questions for me, that was all I had to cover with you," said Hermione with a clear tone of finality.

"Actually yes, there was something I wanted to speak with you about…" Draco's stomach churned as he searched for the courage to say what was in his heart and mind. "I…I realize that I may be making you feel uncomfortable by saying this, and I realize that this isn't necessarily the right time but…I just wanted you to know that when I was in Azkaban…the thought of you was the only thing that kept me from madness. I need to thank you for that. If it hadn't been for you I…"

Hermione cut him off before he could say anymore. "I want to make something clear Professor Malfoy. As of a few moments ago, when you officially accepted the position of Potions Master, our relationship became strictly professional. I'm sure you understand what that distinction means?"

"I do…and I acknowledge and respect that, but I need you to know that…"

"So unless what you're about to say has to do with Potions or is related to this school," Hermione cut him off "then it doesn't need to be said. I have no interest in dwelling in the past. I made my peace with the past years ago. If you still need to do so, then I suggest you find a way to do that on your own time and in your own way. Am I making myself clear to you, Professor Malfoy?"

"Crystal," replied Draco softly as he diverted his gaze from looking at her down to staring into his hands like a scolded child.

"Great." Hermione gave him a forced half smile then made to finish their current encounter. "You're excused then. Please, inform me when you have completed your lesson plans and we can meet to discuss any alterations or details you may have overlooked. Good day Professor Malfoy."

Everything about her demeanor had turned cold.

Without waiting for a response; Hermione pulled out a stack of parchments, took out a quill, and began to write on them.

Draco stood up quietly and excused himself from her office, and headed straight back to his room where he wrote his mother and informed her of his confirmed position as Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts.

Even though his interaction with Hermione had been less than positive, his day had turned out pretty good overall and he was determined to not let it faze or discourage him.

Despite all he had done to ruin his life in the past, all of the pain and the ruin; Draco Malfoy finally had a future, one that he could control, and that meant he finally had a reason to embrace hope…

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A/N: Heyo! Thank you all for the reviews! I love and appreciate them. You guys are the best!

For those of you wondering, my friend took me to Mexico and it was awesome! We lost a day due to canceled flights and snow (stupid snow), but I still got my share of tequila, sunshine and Canadian swingers (don't ask). Overall, it was a major success!

But now I'm back and there is snow outside and I have a major case of spring fever! Bah! Likely, it will be a couple weeks til my next update because I may not get a clear chance to write until spring break but don't fret because this story is still going full speed!

Thanks for the support! See you next chapter!


	7. Desired Company

_Wheels are turning, I remember when you were mine…_ _Time seems to move so slowly when you're taking it as it comes. Maybe we were just too young? …_ _I must have been a fool to the bitter end, now I hold on to hope to have you back again. I'd bargain and I'd fight, but there's another world we're living in tonight…_

_The Killers_

_._

Tomorrow was the first day of the school year. As was tradition, the staff all ate together in the Great Hall to discuss the upcoming year.

The feast was modest compared to what they would receive on the first day of term but it was well presented and well made. A few people trickled in late.

Unlike tomorrow, they weren't confined to the close-knit staff table and were currently spread out through the hall. Draco was sitting alone, but he wasn't the only staff member who had chosen to do so, therefore he didn't feel awkward about it.

After the meal, Hermione stood up to address everyone.

"Welcome back everyone!" The Great Hall was fuller than usual. Majority of the staff lived off of the school grounds over the summer, and many of them commuted from their homes during the school year as well.

Ginny was sitting towards the front of the hall, at the same table as Hermione looking up attentively as she spoke.

"I'm very excited for this new year. It's great to see all of you back and well. I hope your summers didn't fly by too quickly!"

There were a few polite chuckles across the room.

"I sent out the new staff directory about a month ago. If for some reason you didn't receive one, don't worry about it because I have a revised copy here for you all." Hermione swished her wand and a flock of directories swarmed into the hall and landed on everyone's lap.

"We have a last minute addition to our staff. Draco Malfoy," Hermione nodded in Draco's direction and he felt like he should stand up. He awkwardly pushed his chair back and stood up before his peers so that they could all see him properly.

Across from Draco's table he spotted Cho Chang sitting next to Parvati Patil. It was oddly reminiscent of his old school days which, before this job opportunity, he hadn't thought of in years. It was apparent that they were whispering to each other about him, ever the gossiping kind.

Draco felt like a farm animal being judged under the gage of his peers. Although Parvati and Cho weren't the only ones whispering across the room.

Hermione cleared her throat loudly, causing a cease to all of the whispering that had broken out at the mention of his name. "Draco Malfoy," she repeated "will be joining our staff as Potions Master. As a few of you already know, he is also a member of the Slytherin House so I have asked him to fill the position as head of house. Please join me in welcoming him and wishing him the best of luck in this new endeavor!"

Overall, her welcome was almost convincing; even to him. Hermione initiated a round of applause amongst the staff to welcome Draco that was moderately forced.

Draco gave a slight nod and smiled in recognition of their required welcome then eagerly sunk back down into his chair and gratefully listened as Hermione began to address a new topic on her agenda.

Draco felt the pressure to perform rapidly mounting after this formal introduction of his title. He didn't want to let himself down, and more importantly he still wanted to make a good impression on Hermione. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she hadn't really made up her mind about her feelings towards him.

The awkwardness of their interactions was a testament of that.

Sure, the anger Hermione felt towards Draco was apparent, but there was something beneath that anger fighting against her desire to keep it below the surface of her emotions.

Without doubt, Draco knew that he still loved her; and if he could convince her that it was safe to at least be friends with him, he would be happy and satisfied with that result. He didn't carry any illusions that they could pick up where they had left off before his final arrest; and had accepted that, likely, he would never truly love again.

There was still a strong desire within him, however, to make amends for what he'd done in any way he could, and somehow salvage whatever connections may remain in the wreckage of their relationship.

/

Hermione lived on Hogwarts grounds. She had since the beginning of her employment, along with her daughter. It was a convenient situation for her, although it was a situation Sophia was clearly growing tired of. She was never raised under normal circumstances. Sophia had spent her entire life confined within the walls of Hogwarts. Where, for most students, Hogwarts served as an escape from their family life; the school was Sophia's entire life and she was eager to escape it.

Their living quarters were a spacious two bedroom flat located near the northern towers, nearby the quidditch pitch. When Sophia looked out her window, she could stare out at the goal posts and remember watching the games from her bedroom when she was just a little girl.

At least, at Hogwarts, she could be surrounded by her two greatest loves; books and quidditch.

Sophia was lounged out reading a book on the couch when her mother came in.

"How was it?" She asked without looking up from the pages.

Hermione sighed, plopped down next to her daughter and answered vaguely, "Oh, you know, same old routine."

She didn't want to burden her daughter with the news about Draco. Sophia knew very little about Hermione's past and she intended to keep it that way. She knew that Hermione used to work for the Ministry, and about her past with Harry and Ron fighting Voldemort, and that was about it. There was no reason to tell her about the pain she had survived now that those times were over and she was determined to protect her daughter from it as long as she could.

"You looked stressed out."

Hermione shrugged. "Well, you know how I get at the beginning of term. So many things to do getting everyone settled in and back on track."

"Yes, but you do fine every year. I think you're more efficient than McGonagall even," complimented her daughter.

"That's sweet to say but you don't mean that," said Hermione, giving her an adoring smile.

"You're right mom. I don't." Sophia joked. "You're just terrible at your job. Atrocious, even."

They both laughed. Their sound of their laughter was identical, as was the way they threw their heads back and spread their lips past their perfectly aligned front teeth when they did so.

"So are you all ready for tomorrow?"

Sophia nodded her head. "Landen went to Diagon Alley with me earlier today to get the last of my books. I'm all set."

Hermione noticed the book she had been reading. Just as studious as she had been, Sophia was already eagerly diving into her text books for the year.

With a reminiscing smile, Hermione recounted reading to Sophia Hogwarts, A History when she was a child as her bedtime story. She was grateful to have a daughter who she understood so well. Although they had a respectful and functional relationship, her child was like her best friend; without doubt, the person she loved most in the world. Her saving grace.

Putting an arm around her, she hugged her daughter in closely and kissed the top of her forehead. "You should get some extra sleep tonight. You have a big day tomorrow."

"You know I'm in my seventh year tomorrow right mom? I do know how to go to bed at an appropriate time, on my own."

"Don't remind me. You're growing up too fast for my liking. You know, you don't have to stay in the dorms this year if you don't want to. You could stay here with me for old time's sake?"

"Mom, you know I'm not going to do that. Everyone else stays in the dormitories. I'm weird enough being the headmistress's kid without separating myself from everyone!"

With a sigh, she accepted this. "I know. I just…I want to keep you to myself as long as I've got left."

"I'm not going anywhere mom! I'm just growing up. I'll always be here with you." Sophia took hold of her mom's hand and squeezed it affectionately.

"I know. I'm being emotional for no reason. I'm just so proud of you."

"Thank. So, are you in for the night?"

"Not quite darling. I still have a couple lose ends to tie up before tomorrow, but I'll be coming in for the night soon. I just wanted to make sure I caught you before you went to bed."

"Don't worry. I'll probably be up when you get back. I'm not tired quite yet."

"Okay love. I'll be back in about an hour."

/

Standing at the front of his classroom, Draco was using his wand rearrange and position the furniture. He'd received a roster of his students for the year earlier that morning and was altering the set up to his liking in order to best accommodate his class sizes. The room looked exactly as it had when he was in school, learning under Snape and Slughorn, and he was trying to refresh things up as much as he could. Although there was a limit to what could do with a dungeon and less than a couple dozen potion stations.

To his surprise, Hermione had been lingering in the doorway watching him levitate a table to the far side of the room. When he finally noticed her there he nearly dropped it in shock.

"Hermio-uh…Headmistress, I mean. Sorry." He remembered her request to address her by her professional title and thought he'd caught himself just in time.

"Professor," she said in acknowledgement. "May I come in?"

"You're always welcome," answered Draco sincerely as he stored his wand away into his pocket.

"I was just stopping by to see how you were holding up. The first day is always the most intimidating. I remember when I was in your position, I could hardly sleep from the nerves."

Draco rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't think I'll be getting much sleep tonight. I keep running my lessons over and over in my head. I was even trying to memorize student names before I've even met them. Not going to be very effective is it?" He gave a light chuckle, making it apparent how frazzled he felt from her presence.

Hermione gave him a slight consoling smile. "You're going to be fine. Your lesson plans are great and the students will adore you. I'm excited to let the Slytherin house know about your arrival. I've been needing leverage to get them to like me for some time."

Draco grinned. "It might be hard. You're more of a Gryffindor than anyone I've ever met. That includes Potter…and that's saying something."

"When you say it like that, it's almost an insult," said Hermione with a laugh, and before she realized it she was genuinely smiling back at him.

Briefly, as they shared that one genuine smile, they looked as though they had once been friends…

As soon as Hermione realized this she stopped herself abruptly in the midst of their laughter and shunned her happiness away, covering it up with her professionalism.

"Anyway Professor, I was just stopping by to see if you needed anything and to wish you luck for tomorrow." She extended her hand for a handshake.

It was incredibly awkward, but Draco could tell what she was trying to do. It was as if she were internally scolding herself for a moment a shared joy between them.

What he wanted to do was damn her professional handshake, pull her into his arms, and tell her how sorry he still was after all those years until she gave into his apology; but he wouldn't dare do that. He knew that he couldn't force her to recognize something she wasn't ready for. So instead, he stepped forward and gently returned the handshake and said thank you without embarrassing her.

"I'll see you tomorrow night at the Feast," she said as she began to walk backwards towards the door.

He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she had come down to say something different to him, but what could he do about it?

"I'll see you then." Draco watched her leave and felt a familiar pull tugging at his heart; it was the hinting of a tormented love that refused to die down. He could see through her act and, for him, her pain was clear and apparent. Hermione was still broken and shattered on the inside. Instead of mending her heart, she had barricaded it with stone walls.

What Draco wouldn't give to tear them down, and heal each and every splinter that had lodged itself into her agonizingly beautiful soul.

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A/N: Yeah, whenever I say I'm not going to update I do lol I should say I'm not going to update more often.

Couple errors: Last chapter I mentioned Professor Brown (lavender) as divination teacher. I meant to type Parvati Patil. That's who I was thinking of, but now that I wrote down. Lavender is dead sooooo she would make an awkward teacher, eh? lol My bad. I did correct that.

Also, (this is more a clarification) Ginny is going as Professor Weasley in this story. I do know a few teachers who prefer their maiden name. I just like it better having her referenced this way.

Thanks for the reviews. You guys are amazing readers.


	8. A Familiar Face

_He seemed broken hearted. Somethin' within him, the moment that I first laid eyes on him…_ _was hauntingly familiar…_ _The clouds never expect it when it rains, the sea changes colors, but the sea does not change. I went forth with an age old desire to please, on the edge of seventeen…_

_Stevie Nicks_

_._

Hagrid was still ferrying first years across the lake as Draco settled himself in at the staff table. It was very odd for him to be in this position, looking out at the student body; hard to believe he'd ever been that short, and looked as young and clueless as the flock of students sitting before him.

Suddenly, he understood Snape's frequent pity-like expression as he would look down upon the Great Hall. These young people had no clue what pain and heartache was. They had no idea that their lives were heading towards suffering and torment, regardless of how much happiness they may find along the way. They were still innocent, naïve, joyous and full of hope; believing that life had the best intentions for each and every one of them. It was almost impossible to remember what it had felt like to believe that wonderful lie.

The front doors swung open and the first years made their way inside, lined up in an orderly formation with terrified and amazed expressions on their faces. Draco watched as they were sorted and eighteen new students were added to the Slytherin house.

Hermione announced the beginning of the feast and everyone began to eat. Draco was one of the few staff members who ate in complete silence. It didn't bother him, he preferred to be left alone simply because of the amount of nerves he currently felt charging along his stomach line. He barely had an appetite to eat.

It was also fairly apparent that majority of the staff remembered him or knew who he was because of his past and family name. Likely, they doubted he would last long in a place like this. It didn't faze him though. He had no intentions of pleasing any of them. The only people he needed to succeed for was himself and Hermione. That was it. No one else mattered.

The feast seemed to end as quickly as it started. Hermione made her way to the podium again and addressed the student body with beginning of term reminders and announcements.

"…I'm sure many of you have already noticed an addition to our staff table here at Hogwarts. Slytherin, you'll want to listen carefully because this affects you all directly. I am pleased to inform you all that we have a new potions master joining our ranks. Will you all join me in welcoming Professor Malfoy?" Hermione began the round of applause to which the entire Great hall joined in.

Draco stood up and gave a small wave at the crowd. He looked over at Hermione who was beaming as she clapped for him. It was clearly a façade. She had to look happy for him in front of the students so he knew it wasn't a true reaction to him being there. Either way, it was pleasant to see her smiling like that. As always, she had maintained the perfect teeth that caused her smile to shine and beam across her face. If it hadn't been for the abrupt silence following the booming round of applause, Draco may have gotten lost in the beautiful expression splayed across her perfect face.

"Excellent. In addition to his teaching position, he will also be resuming the position of Head of Slytherin House, seeing as he is a Slytherin himself!"

At this, the Slytherin table exploded in thunderous applause. In fact, many of them stood up and gave him a standing ovation because they were so overjoyed with the news. Draco couldn't help but smile sincerely this time. It was a new feeling to be wanted, needed, and even welcomed.

"Yes, yes, I thought that might make you happy. I expect you all to be more than accommodating to our new Professor and extend the finest display of Hogwarts hospitality while he gets acclimated."

Draco sat back down with a grin stuck on his face as he listening to Hermione finish her announcements.

It had been a great night for him and he was looking forward to tomorrow, despite his nervousness.

/

The following morning wasn't as nerve-wracking as he had expected. Knowing how happy the Slytherin house had been at his arrival helped to give him a much needed boost of confidence.

It was required for him to be present at breakfast unless he was ill, so he sat at the staff table that morning and observed the students as they bustled about. He wasn't feeling hungry because of the excitement that came with the first day of school. He wanted to get his first class over and done with. Once he finished his first lesson he would feel convinced the he was actually a Hogwarts teacher. Until then, he was just a nervous hopeful.

Draco suspected he was the first person to bolt out of the Great Hall as soon as the breakfast hour ended. He went straight to his classroom and waited for the first period of students to arrive.

His first class on Mondays would be one of his most challenging because it was an advanced potions class; but Draco thought it was good he could get, what he would assumed would be, the hardest task out of the way first. Everything else would seem much easier in comparison.

His sixth year N.E.W.T. level students all arrived well before the first bell went off. The class was small, but they were focused and serious about the topic, which Draco appreciated. Seven students in all; two Slytherins, one of which was a prefect, three Gryffindors, a Hufflepuff prefect and a Ravenclaw.

For the first class, Draco selected two potions for the students to choose from, in order to gauge their experience level, as well as their work ethic. They could select a simple O.W.L. level potion or decide to conjure up the challenge potion over the course of the period.

As expected, both prefects undertook the challenge given them, and in all only two of his N.E.W.T. level students decided to play it safe with the O.W.L level potion. Draco didn't judge them harshly, they were clearly nervous to fail in front of the new teacher.

Satisfied that he had survived his first period, Draco eagerly awaited the arrival of his next class. Since his N.E.W.T. class lasted two hours this was technically the third period, but only his second class of the day.

It was a first year class that came in, all of them looking amazed at their surroundings. Many of them trickled in late; it was easy to get lost in the huge castle on your first day if you didn't know exactly where you were going. This class was required to share potion stations since there were almost thirty of them, comprised of a mixture from each house. Many of these students had never seen a cauldron before, much less used one. They were still getting used to handling their wands, and Draco had to constantly remind himself that a few came from muggle homes and barely understood a thing he was telling them.

Un-expectantly, this class ended up being far more difficult to teach than his N.E.W.T. level class. At times, he felt more like a babysitter than a teacher.

"Donohue that is not what we use our wands for! ...No Elvira, you cannot use the bathroom again because you went once already…Randolph, I already told you what we use that for…No Anderson, that is not funny. No one here thinks you're amusing…"

Draco had come close to giving out his first detention when one of the first year Gryffindors thought it would be a good idea to show off by trying to juggle three other students' wands instead of copying the notes written on the board.

"That's a good way to take an eye out! Put those down now and step away from the station! Twenty points from Gryffindor for idiotic behavior!"

Lashing out at the first year Gryffindor earned him a small round of applause from a couple first year Slytherin students. It hadn't been his intention to dock points from the Gryffindor house on his first day, but his temper had caught up with him before he could reason with it. His patience for first years was small; his patience for obnoxious first year Gryffindors was even less.

It was a long hour, but Draco made it through and finally reached his free period that stretched over into lunch. It was lucky that he basically had a two hour lunch and suspected this was organized on purpose to help him wind down from his third period circus of first years.

Draco decided to eat lunch in his class room instead of going up to the Great Hall. He had a lot of clearing up to do after the first years, and made a note that the next time he had the first years, he would have to set aside ten minutes before the end of class so that they could adequately clean up after themselves.

Draco had his seventh year students right after lunch; which was a drastic change from the preceding class. Surprisingly, he had more seventh year students than sixth years; fifteen students in all. This class had a healthy amount of Slytherins in it, six in all; which made him feel slightly proud. There were five Gryffindors, three Ravenclaws, and a lonely Hufflepuff. Both Head boy and girl were in this class; a Slytherin girl named Mafalda Hawkinson, and the sole Hufflepuff boy named Anthony Harper. They were both clearly excited about their positions, as they kept adjusting their badges throughout the period.

The class settled in quickly, all of them arriving just before the final bell went off.

Draco felt like he was just starting to get the hang of all this. He stood before the classroom without intimidation as he pulled out his roster and began to take attendance, calling out each name so that he could start to match them to faces.

"Eleanor Bailey?"

"Present," spoke up a petite, brunette Gryffindor girl sitting near the back of the room.

"Terrance Davenport?"

A tall and gruff looking Slytherin boy merely nodded in Draco's direction. Terrance played keeper for the Slytherin quidditch team and it was clearly apparent why. The boy was twice the size of his peers, and if Draco didn't know better he would have assumed the boy was in some way related to Hagrid. Draco internally shuddered at the idea of Hagrid having relations with any witch in order to create any type of child. Draco didn't dare let the ideas of blood superiority creep into his mind any longer, but he still had his doubts when it came to what he considered the blurred lines of inbreeding.

"Yolanda Everett?"

"Here!" chimed a perky, red-headed Ravenclaw girl who was surprisingly not a Weasley, although she could have easily passed for one.

"Sophia Granger?"

Draco double-backed at the name he'd just listed off. He had read over his student lists before classes began but somehow had overlooked this name.

"Here, professor," answered a bushy haired Gryffindor who seemed to have been chatting away with the student standing next to her and almost didn't hear her name being called.

Draco must have looked like he'd seen a ghost because the entire class stared at him with a look of concern and confusion as his neck jutted forward, then stretched to the side as he gawked at the student in front of him.

It was as if Hermione was standing before him in her seventh year from. They looked just alike and Draco couldn't believe was he was seeing.

"Granger? Did I get that right or was that a typo?" Draco asked once the initial shock had passed.

Sophia thought that professor looked oddly pale as he double checked her name. "Yup, Granger. I know, as in Hermione Granger…my mom is the headmistress," clarified Sophia without needing prompting. She got this every year from students and teachers alike, wanting to confirm that her mother was indeed their boss.

It was an interesting situation for her. On one hand, it helped guarantee her relatively good marks in all of her classes since none of her professors, yet, had the courage to flunk their boss's daughter. On the other hand she was always under the watchful eye of her parent, which made it exceptionally difficult to break any of her rules. Although she still managed to get herself in a fair bit of trouble, regardless.

The student next her made a smart comment about how Sophia was every bit as bossy as the headmistress and the class laughed, causing Sophia to smile and laugh along with them. There, in front of Draco, were Hermione's perfect teeth and illuminating smile. It struck him down to his core, giving him undeniable goosebumps, and shivers down his spine.

Realizing that he must look incredibly odd at the moment he tried to shrug off his shock and continue down the list of students as if nothing had just happened, but he couldn't help but look back at Sophia between every few names. It was almost as if he were making sure she was real and not a figment of his imagination, or some kind of hallucination born from the isolated trauma he'd suffered as a result of his long-term imprisonment.

By the time he finished attendance Sophia was still there, as real as ever and he decided that it was safe to accept that she was, in fact, real.

Draco quickly drew the instructions for class onto the board. This class was given only one potion to make, they did not get the choice to perform an easier alternative since it was their seventh year and they were all expected to perform at a higher level by this point.

They were given the assignment to concoct an essence of dittany, a healing potion that Draco intended to donate to the hospital wing if the students succeeded in brewing it correctly. It would help him to break the ice amongst his co-workers and aid in resetting his reputation towards something a bit more positive than what he was currently known for.

As soon as the instructions were fully posted and the students began to get to work, Draco secluded himself behind his desk and pretended to busy himself with paperwork that he didn't really have. For the duration of the class he couldn't help but stare at Sophia Granger as she worked. Luckily, she seemed to be oblivious of his watchful gaze.

If she was in her seventh year, that meant she was likely to be seventeen. It didn't get past Draco that Hermione would have been pregnant with Sophia eighteen years ago if she were, indeed, seventeen; right about the same time Draco had gone away to Azkaban.

Before he let himself get carried away, it also occurred to him that many of the seventh year students were eighteen already. It was absolutely possible that Sophia was adopted by Hermione…although he highly doubted it. Sophia was almost an exact replica of her mother. Perhaps she was the child of one of Hermione's relatives and was just raised by her? That idea seemed far-fetched as well. He knew that Hermione was an only child and she had never mentioned a cousin, or any other close living relative, to him in the past.

There was no way he could know for sure what Hermione had been up to right after he had gotten arrested. Maybe she had met someone else shortly after his arrest? A lot of people were known to rebound after a turbulent separation or break up.

Draco recognized that there were numerous wizards who had the potential of being Sophia's father, but he couldn't help but wonder…

It was a ridiculous idea. It was more probable that Hermione had moved on right after he'd gone away, married some upstanding wizard, and made the beautiful creation standing before him as a result of that union.

He tried to think back and remember if Hermione had been wearing a wedding ring during the few encounters he'd had with her since his release. He was certain that she hadn't been wearing one, but that didn't necessarily mean she wasn't married by now…but it did leave room for doubt.

It was nagging at him until the end of the double period. It wasn't like he could just approach a student and ask them who their father was. It would be incredibly inappropriate and Sophia was likely to tell her mother that he'd asked. The curiosity to know what had happened to Hermione after he'd left was irresistible though. Somehow, he needed to find answers.

Draco memorized Sophia's features as best he could as the students packed up their things and began to clean up their stations. In his mind, he went through every wizard he knew that had the potential of being Sophia's father and no one stood out. The only person Sophia looked like, that he knew, was Hermione.

It was only after the class had bustled out of the room that he left the confines of his desk. With a distracted mind, Draco went from station to station bottling up the essence of dittany as he prepared for his final period of the day; which would be comprised of twenty two fifth year students. Regretfully, he remained distracted throughout his final class.

It was exceedingly difficult to focus on any group of students when he suddenly only cared about one…

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A/N: Yesterday was Ron's birthday so happy birthday to my least favorite ginger. Actually, that's not true. You wouldn't be able to tell from my writing, but Ron is one of my favorite characters. I just love to make him the bad guy! He's such a perfectly pathetic scapegoat.

I have a sinus infection. I get them all the time and I hate them. So I wasn't going to update but then I saw that PUTP hit 100 reviews and I wanted to celebrate!

Thank you so much for your support, ideas, and feedback!

See you next chapter!


	9. A Reason To Live

_I've hardly been outside my room in days 'cause I don't feel that I deserve the sunshine's rays…The darkness helped until the whiskey wore away…__When you're young you have this image of your life; you make boundaries you'd never dream to cross, and if you happen to you wake completely lost…_

_Missy Higgins_

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_(Flashback: One Month after Draco's sentencing)_

_The sun was beginning to descend, bringing with it a drop in the surrounding temperature. The sharp, bitterness of the wind seemed to caress her skin with a cold and silent understanding of the torment residing within her. _

_Before her stood the two stone markers of her parents' graves. Sitting gloomily in the grass before them, she confided with them her sorrows and emotional conflicts. For hours, she wept her apologies and regrets through an intoxicated haze that had recently become her normal state of existence. _

_It was clear that her drinking had reached a point that was past her control. The bottle had been a deceitful friend. At first, she leaned on it to help her through rough times and overwhelming trials. Now, she had no idea when it had stolen her life. Somewhere along the line, it had overpowered her. From the moment she awoke until the time she descended into her bed at night, her lips were attached to a bottle or a flask just to get by until the next day when she would do it all over again._

_The reality of her life was too much for her to bear. She had lost her dignity, status, position, identity, morals, and hope. What she had been reduced to was just a shadow of a stranger she would never recognize. How she was going to pull herself together enough to fulfill a position at Hogwarts was beyond her imagination. It was difficult enough for her to wake up every day and just exist. _

_Her face had been worn down and deep bags circled her eyes. She was barely sleeping and the little sleep she did manage to get was induced by drunkenness. When she closed her eyes, she could feel Ron's body weighted on top of her. Then as soon as she would open her eyes, she would be tormented with a longing feeling to have Draco by her side; only to suffer the shattered feeling of her tugging in agony as she remembered that he had aided in placing her parents beneath the ground. Anger would take over and she would obsess on the sound of Blaise's cold, cruel, and genuinely indifferent laughter as he had confessed to murdering her parents. She hated Blaise more than she could describe. He was the initial force that had sent her life toppling over in chaos. _

_Almost as much as she hated Blaise, she hated herself for falling so far from grace. Everything she had invested in, in this life, had crumbled in her weak, helpless and destructive hands. Everything she touched fell apart and perished, mocking her as it smoldered in ruin for ever having had hope in the first place. _

_What was the point in trying anymore?_

_She hadn't told anyone what had occurred between her and Ron, and was certain it was an event she'd drag with her to the grave. With each sip of whiskey, she hoped the memory of it would just disappear. _

_So far she had been unsuccessful._

_Hermione waited until the sun had disappeared and darkness fell over the graveyard before, using her mother's gravestone as a crutch to steady herself, she stumbled up onto her feet._

_She had promised Ginny that she would check in with her at her and Harry's house before going home alone that night. Since the sentencing, they both had been incredibly worried about Hermione and insisted on her keeping consistent contact with them so that they could make sure she was alright._

_Harry had pleaded with her not to apparate when she was drinking and had made her a direct port key to their house. Hermione pulled it out and used it to transport herself from the grave to their front door._

_The moment her feet touched down, she lost her balance and fell into the front door causing a great banging sound. The noise was loud enough that it caused Ginny to rush down and fling the door open to investigate what had just happened._

"_Hermione!" Ginny reached out and helped Hermione regain her balance as she ushered her inside. Harry made his way down to the front of the house shortly after her._

"_Merlin's beard Hermione…you're a mess," lamented Ginny._

"_I'm quite aware of that." Hermione said as she pushed herself out of Ginny's arms and tried to hold herself up while she straightened out her robes, which were hopelessly beyond repair; wrinkled, torn and stained like the current shambles of her life._

"_I just came by because I told you I would check in; but now that you've see I'm dead yet, I'm going home. I don't feel like visiting tonight."_

"_No, no you're not," insisted Harry as he interjected himself into the conversation. He couldn't help but notice how pale Hermione currently looked. She had tremors that were causing her entire body to shake. Lately, her state had been less than ideal, or even presentable, but she had never seen her look this bad. She was literally falling apart. "Ginny's right. You look terrible and I think you need to see someone."_

"_See who?" snapped Hermione, clearly insulted by his concern. _

"_Someone who can help you. Professional help, I mean. You're falling apart at the seams, Hermione. I know it's hard to accept that you've lost your parents, believe me I know, but you have to find a way to go on living your life."_

"_You have no idea what I'm going through Harry!" Hermione didn't realize she was yelling. The adrenaline of her sudden anger shot through her and caused her blood to boil and rush through her body like a flaming bullet. How dare he presume to understand her pain? Neither of them knew, or could even comprehend, what she was feeling inside or what she had gone through with herself, with Draco and with Ron._

"_How much have you drank today already?" Ginny asked. Without waiting for permission, she reached into Hermione's robes and pulled out the flask she knew was hidden there. _

_Hermione reached forward to snatch it out of Ginny's grasp but she had already grabbed it and passed it it back to her husband. _

_Harry opened the lid and found that the contents were completely gone. Dumbfounded, he tipped the flask upside and shook it; not even a drop escaped the dark canister. _

"_You drank this in a day?" Harry asked confounded._

_Hermione immediately felt ashamed of herself. After that regrettable night with Ron, she had promised herself that she wasn't going to touch the stuff ever again. Yet the pressure of walking away from it made her feel as though she needed it more and had only caused her to double her amounts. _

"_That's none of your business, what I've done."_

"_Oh Hermione, Harry's right, you need help," consoled Ginny._

_Hermione was suddenly getting angry again. Her moods, like her vision, was all over the place. "I don't have to stand for this. I don't answer to either of you. What I do with my life is my business!"_

_She succeeded in snatching her flask back from Harry then turned to leave in a fit of rage. _

_Her foot barely made it past the first step when she slammed into a wall of blackness and lost consciousness on their walkway._

"_Hermione!" Ginny cried out and urgently ran forward, but was too late to break her fall. Hermione slammed into the ground and laid still, too far gone to come-to. _

"_This has gone too far. She's getting help whether she likes it or not," insisted Harry as he came forward and helped Ginny pick Hermione's body, reeking of liquor, up off the ground. _

_It was easy enough to lift her, she had lost a considerable amount of weight seeing as the most frequent thing to pass her lips lately, instead of food and nourishment, was alcohol. She was like a gin-soaked rag doll who had once been very beautiful but was now beyond recognition. They both hoped she hadn't been broken beyond repair as they brought their damaged friend to the hospital._

_/_

_The bright lights shone down her like a merciless sun, making her feel nauseous, as she lay in her hospital bed in St. Mungos. _

"_Ugh, why did I wake up? I feel like hell…" groaned Hermione as she turned over onto her side and tried to hold in the sensation to vomit. _

_Harry was standing by the doorway and Ginny had pulled a chair up to her bedside. _

"_You should feel like hell. No one has any business drinking as much as you did," spoke Harry, scolding her from the far side of the room._

_Hermione said nothing._

"_I know you don't like it, but you need to be here for a few days," he continued. "They'll help you wean off of that crap and get a clear head again. I don't know what you were thinking. You could have killed yourself drinking like that. Then where would we be?" As angry as Harry sounded, it was just a front to cover up how scared he'd felt for his friend. The doctors had told him and Ginny that Hermione was lucky they were there. If she had passed out on her own, it was very likely she would have stopped breathing having severely suppressed her bodily systems under the obscene influence of drinking. _

_Ginny outstretched a calm and supportive hand, clasping onto her friend's cold fingers as they gripped the edge of the bed. "They have grief counselors here to help you get past what happened with your parents. Before you know it, you'll be feeling like your old self again. I know you're nervous about our new job at Hogwarts and all the changes that are happening, but I think that it will be good for you. Your job could get really dark at times and, right now, you need some happiness in your life."_

"_Yeah, I guess," she hesitantly agreed, but diverted her eyes to the floor. She could feel how worried and disappointed her friends were in her and felt a relief with the doctor came in and excused them from the room._

_Hermione's doctor was a tall, thin woman, only a few years older than Hermione, with long wispy black hair, bright green eyes, a warm voice, and a compassionate smile. _

"_How are you feeling Ms. Granger?" asked the doctor as she approached her bedside, replacing Ginny's place in the chair. _

_Hermione just groaned in response and roll back over onto her back. _

_The doctor nodded in understanding. "I figured as much. You're lucky you have friends who care about you so much. You could have done some real damage if they hadn't brought you in."_

"_To be honest, I don't really care what I could have done." She never would have admitted that to Harry and Ginny, for fear of hurting them, but in the dark, bleak abyss of her depression it was the morbid truth. _

"_I can understand that you're going through a pretty serious depression right now Ms. Granger, but I think it may care."_

_Hermione turned her head and looked at her with a confused expression. Who was she to tell her what she thought of herself? _

_The doctor began to speak in a fragile, sensitive tone that contrasted her previously soft and careful one. "Hermione, are you aware that you're pregnant?"_

_If she hadn't been laying down, she would have fallen over._

"_What did you just say?"_

"_I figured you may not have been aware. I'd hate to think that you would have willingly done what you did if you had known you were with child." There was a strained hoped in the doctors expression as if she were trying to convince herself, rather than assure Hermione of this. _

_The doctor pulled out a short parchment that listed various test results. One of the standard tests they gave admitted female patients was a pregnancy test. The results clearly listed that she was, in fact, pregnant. _

"_You're at least two months along already. We're not entirely sure. We were more concentrated on getting you stable, after all. I have to ask, since it seems clear from your face that you never suspected this; did you not notice that you had missed periods?" inquired the doctor. _

_Hermione felt like she had just been slapped across the face and was still in a numb shock. "I-I-I've been grieving. I just figured it was that. I never thought much more into it."_

"_True, it potentially could have been that, but it's not the case. I had them run the test twice just to be sure after we were sure you were stable. Now, I don't know what's caused this break down for you but you have to stop drinking. That's the first thing we have to address and, right now, the most important. You have to quit, at least until you bring this baby to term. I don't know how long you've been drinking like this or how much you typically consume, I'm hoping for your health that you don't normally drink like this, but we're going to keep our fingers crossed and hope you haven't already caused damage to this baby. I can't make any promises though until we conduct a few more test though. Alright?"_

_Hermione just nodded along and went with whatever the doctor said. She didn't know how to comprehend this news. She could barely survive her own life. How was she going to raise another human being? A child that she may have already failed before it was even born._

_/_

_Hermione kept her pregnancy to herself as long as she could. With the help of her doctor, she had stopped drinking all together. Depression still weighed down on her but she managed to get up each day regardless. _

_Most days she kept to herself, having turned into a bit of hermit, but it was still a vast improvement to where she had been before. _

_Eventually though, she could no longer hide the truth. As soon as she began to show beyond concealment, she went to Ginny and admitted the news. _

_Ginny had cried when she told her._

"_Do you know who…?" She was afraid to ask if Draco was the father, knowing that he was locked in Azkaban, and Hermione could tell she was feeling timid and scared to ask._

"_It's not necessarily Draco's," stated Hermione matter-of-factually. _

"_Oh? I didn't know you had been with anyone else."_

"_Alcohol can make you do regrettable things. Let's just leave it at that?" She wasn't going to say anything more than that. Ginny didn't need to hear what her brother had done. What had occurred was in the past where it belonged and where it would stay._

"_Do you need help finding out whose it is? If you want, I can help?"_

_Hermione was adamant about not wanting to dig around looking for paternity. "No. No, I don't want, or need to know. Both alternatives are less than desirable, if I'm honest. I just want to get past that and raise this baby on my own."_

"_You don't think he deserves to know?"_

"_If it is Draco's then what can he do? You can't raise a baby from Azkaban can you? The other option is far worse than that, if you can believe it. So I don't want to reopen that door if I can avoid it. I just want to get through this in one piece."_

"_Alright. I'm here for you, whatever and however you need. Harry too. You know that."_

"_Thanks Gin. I knew I could count on you to be here for me. I'm terrified, if I can be honest, and it helps to know that I still have friends."_

"_Always."_

_/_

_McGonagall had been the one to arrange Hermione's living arrangements within the school._

_Without asking her to, she had steadily become like a mother figure in Hermione's life. She even helped her come up with a delivery plan; and would frequently let her know that she, and many others on the staff, were willing to help her through her journey into motherhood. Hogwarts would always be her home and could now be called home for her baby as well. They were both welcomed. _

_Hermione was scared, but her life had started to regain hope and she felt like she could manage it once again with the help of McGonagall and her friends._

_She felt safe and confidant, believing that the pain of her past had left her behind, allowing her to run full speed into a new life and a better future._

_Until the day Sophia was actually born…_

_Hermione was convinced that Ron was some kind of bad-luck magnet that bred constant misfortune in her life. It was bound to happen that he would eventually hear that Hermione was pregnant. She had hoped he would keep to himself and know when to leave well enough alone but that hadn't been the case._

_Instead, he came to Hogwarts, tracked her down, and practically cornered her in the library one evening after she had finished teaching her classes._

"_Peeves told me I could find you here. Glad he was right."_

_His voice emerged from around the corner of a bookshelf as Hermione was reading in her usual favorite corner of the library. She jumped up in shock as his voice break the silence. She had not been expected to see him._

"_Ron, what on earth are you doing here?"_

"_That unhappy to see me, eh?" Ron strode over and sat down next to her without invitation. _

"_You shouldn't be here." Hermione scooted her chair over and placed some distance between them._

"_I know about the baby." He threw out, letting her know off hand why he was there instead of easing her into it through awkward small talk and forced conversation. "You had to of known I was going to approach you eventually?"_

"_Why would I? It's none of your business."_

"_Really? You know that for a fact?"_

_Hermione pursed her lips, crossed her arms, and very clearly stated, "I don't want to have anything to do with you Ron."_

"_Look, you don't need to be that way with me. I'm not here to make threats or fight you about custody. I'll let you have the baby. It's fine."_

_Hermione couldn't believe the audacity he had to say that._

"_To be honest, I would prefer if we just kept his between you and me. No one knows about us so far, at least I'm assuming that's true, or I would have been approached by someone before now, right? So, we can just keep this our little secret as long as you're okay with that. I know that Janessa doesn't know what we did and, although I don't regret it, I'd rather not unravel my entire life because of this baby."_

_If Hermione hadn't been over seven months along, she would gotten up and hit him. _

"_That doesn't mean that I'm not going to be here for you though. I'll help you out as much as can. If you need me, then I'm there. I can help you raise it without anyone needing to know. We can do this…together. I'm happy about this Hermione. I really am."_

_Hermione couldn't tell if it was the rage inside of her or if something was wrong, but she suddenly felt incredibly hot and noticed she had begun to sweat profusely. Ron noticed it too._

"_Are you alright? You look uncomfortable."_

"_I-I'm fine." She forced between gritted teeth, but that wasn't true. Out of nowhere, as if she'd been punched, she felt a violent cramping in her abdomen and began to keel over in pain._

"_What's happening?" Ron sounded like he was about to panic. _

"_I-I don't know Ron. Just leave. Please leave. I don't want you here."_

"_No, I don't think I should leave you alone. You look like you're in a lot of pain, Hermione."_

_Ron stood up and approached her, trying to help her up but she aggressively pushed him away. "Don't you dare fucking touch me, Ronald!"_

_She said it loud enough that it caught the attention of the librarian who came rushing over._

"_What is happening over here? Ms. Granger? Oh dear, you don't look so well! Let me help you get to the hospital wing." She brushed right past Ron, without the slightest bit of acknowledgment, as if wasn't there at all. Offering her arm, she helped to escort Hermione, who was cringing in pain, out of the room and to the hospital wing._

_/_

_Within minutes of arriving at the hospital wing and being briefly inspected, Hermione was immediately rushed from Hogwarts to St. Mungos. _

_Hermione was in a fit of frenzied panic as her doctor told her that she would be delivering her baby more than a month early. It was, likely, due to the turbulence suffered in the first few of months of her pregnancy that was causing this to happen._

_Even though she hadn't planned for this, she had grown to want this baby and she didn't want any harm to come to her child. There was a very real danger she could lose it, but she couldn't even fathom the possibility of that now that she had come so far along._

"_Just promise me everything is going to be okay," she pleaded to her doctor as she prepared for the delivery._

"_I can promise you we're going to do the very best we can," assured her doctor with a forced optimism. _

_/_

_The entire delivery had been dangerous and rough. Both mother and child had suffered as a result, and it was a miracle that Sophia had survived at all. Hermione didn't care what she had to suffer as long as they were able to save her. _

_Sophia was born with many complications and it would be a full month before Hermione was able to take her home._

_The day she was able to walk out of St. Mungos with her little girl was the day that changed her life forever. _

_Never again would she endanger her life or allow any harm to come to her daughter. Fiercely protective and devoted, she promised to live each day of her life solely for her daughter. Everything she did was in the best interest of that little girl._

_Nothing, and no one, would ever come between them. Despite all the odds that had been stacked against them; they were the special two, and they had survived…_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_A/N: I had this chapter written for a couple days but didn't have the motivation to edit it lol Sorry for the slight wait. I have mid-terms this week, then it's spring break! So the next update wont take as long. Thanks for all of the amazing reviews. You rox my sox off!_

_Also, this is just for fun and a running joke between myself and a friend, but I have a question for you readers. What is the most disturbing Harry Potter pairing you have ever heard of or read? Dobby/Hagrid? Umbridge/Filch? Neville/Sprout? Lmao, you get the idea. Hit me with your best shot! _


	10. You're a Knock-Out Mr Malfoy

_It's been a while, I'm not who I was before…Had to grab my heart back, God knows something had to change …It took a long, long road to get here…I've taken one too many excuses, one too many lies…_ _I'll never be perfect, but at least now I'm brave. I know my heart is open, I can finally breathe. Don't be mad…I found a brand new kinda me…_

_Alicia Keys_

_._

Three weeks had passed since the first day of school and Draco had, thus far, survived his position. Donating the essence of dittany from his first round of classes had proved to be a good move. The staff were slowly, but surely, acknowledging Draco's presence and were treating him with a fair level of respect.

Of course, Parvati and Cho were still spreading the gossip of his involvement in the death of Hermione's parents and still making up tales about his time in Azkaban, but there wasn't much he could do to prevent that. They would always find something to gossip out, their topics changes as frequently as the weather. Draco was hot news for them right now, and he was sure they would eventually become bored and quit talking about him once something more interesting came about.

Eventually everything would become normal for him here.

The sixth and seventh year students were Draco's favorites by far. They listened attentively, followed instructions, demonstrated competence, and always treated him with respect; especially the Slytherins, who seemed to look up at him like an idol or role model. It was an admirable and proud attention that Draco had always craved, but had not yet earned for the right reasons until now.

The four and fifth year students were alright and he enjoyed teaching them, for the most part. Many of them were approaching that awkward cusp of puberty and he couldn't help but find many of them slightly repulsive and annoying. Self-expression, as well as hygiene, were turbulent and unstable things amongst this age group, in addition to rapid mood cycling which Draco didn't have patience to find out about. He wasn't the type of professor to go out of his way and find out why a fifth year girl was crying. He already knew the answers; boys. He didn't bother himself by investigating petty teen dramas. He expected his students to show up sane and level headed to his classes so they could learn and get out.

It was for many of these reasons that he could hardly stand teaching the second and third year students, who were just starting to figure out how to act like decent, miniature human beings on a regular basis. He had to constantly remind himself to be patient with them in order to manage getting through their classes in one piece. Even with the frustrations they presented him, they weren't the worst of the lots.

It was the first years that Draco truly detested. They were loud, messy, obnoxious, ignorant, and self-righteous. They cried too much, spoke too loudly, and laughed at every inappropriate thing imaginable. On top of it all, they all thought they were cute and adorable despite their plethora of flaws; which was most irritating to Draco.

On top of it all, today's classes were especially nerve wracking for Draco. Hermione would be observing him for the entire day, taking notes on his teaching methods so that she could give him feedback and report his progress to the board of governors. As if being in a room with her wasn't nerve wracking enough without knowing he was being judged on top of it.

Luckily, on the plus side, the presence of the headmistress was enough to tone down the usual rowdiness Draco typically had to suffer through and deal with. All of his students were on their very best behavior with Hermione there, and Draco felt an immense sense of relief for it. He couldn't imagine having to reprimand a pupil under the gaze of her watchful eyes.

Eventually, he nearly forget she was there. The entire day she had remained quietly stationed in the back of the room, occasionally writing down a note, or leaving for a brief break. It wasn't until the seventh years came in for class that Draco really felt the thick, undeniable, presences of her in the room.

Sophia greeted her mother with a small smile and a quick nod as she settled into her potion's station, and then waited for instruction along with the rest of the class.

The muscles in Draco's neck seemed to tense up out of nowhere, making it difficult to swallow or speak all of the sudden. Feigning a normal composure, he ban writing notes on the board with his wand. The lesson plan for today called for the making of calming draughts.

'_How relevant'_ thought drop as he force-gulped his nerves down his constricting throat and tried to decrease his own anxiety with a deep, shuddering breath.

"Now, I realize that this potion seems too simple for your level, but know that it's not. Although the ingredients are simple enough, easily acquired, and there are few steps in the process; you have not yet been asked to brew a potion like this before. At least not in any class. Calming draughts are directly affected by the mood of the brewer themselves. There are a few potions like this that we will be working with this year where you will be required to exercise a sort of mental discipline before you can successful concoct the project before you. Know that if you are not in a calm state yourself, then the potion also will not be in a calm state and will therefore transfer your anxieties to the person who takes the draught."

A Ravenclaw student raised her hand. "So does that mean you could make an anxiety draught with the same ingredients and instructions? Is your mood the only changing variable that could affect the desired end result?"

"In a way, Yes. You would successfully give the drinker your feelings of anxiety. However, what causes you anxiety could be entirely different than what makes them anxious, and so the affect may not be what you desired. Some people get jittery when anxious, other people get sweaty palms, other nauseous, and so on and so forth. If you your objective is to make the drinker as anxious in possible, in their own state and in their own way, then there are a few alterations that need to be made to quality it as an anxiety draught. But, in a way, I suppose you could make an anxiety drought of sorts with these instructions. Great question. Yes?"

Another hand had shot up.

"What if we're not feeling very calm right now? I mean, you are judging our work. That kind of observation in itself causes anxiety. Plus the headmaster is here," commented a Hufflepuff who was looking back at Hermione, who returned her remark with a kind smile then waited patiently for Draco's response.

Draco tapped the board with his wand and the words _'Sedatio Animus'_ scrawled themselves out above the potions instruction.

"For those of you who need assistance quieting your mind and entering a calm state, you may use this charm. Use it carefully because you don't want to become so calm that you feel sedated, cannot focus, or cause yourself the temptation to fall asleep."

A few students took out their wands and the charm could be heard about the room. Suddenly, through the misted noise of working students, there was a loud thump as a student hit the floor.

Draco rushed over to where Terrance Davenport, the bulk Slytherin quidditch player, lay snoring with his head under the desk, his body sprawled out haphazardly. A few students had gasped and were peering over to see what had happened.

Draco bent down to make sure he was alright, and that he had not injured himself when he had fallen. He could feel Hermione looming over him as she walked over to inspect the situation for herself.

"Is he alright?"

With moderate struggle, Draco began to turn Terrance over so that he was laying on his back. "Yes, he just got a little enthusiastic with his charm, is all."

"He was really nervous," said a thin girl who was Terrance's lab partner. "I think he thought that if he concentrated extra hard it would over compensate for how he was feeling."

"Yeah, I figured as much," agreed Draco.

"You make him really nervous," she continued to his dismay. "Being the head of Slytherin and all. I think he really wants to please you and make you proud of his work. Which is odd because Terrance usually doesn't care what teachers think of him. You're special, I guess, being a Slytherin and all. He's going to be so embarrassed about this when he wakes up." The girl crossed her arms, leaned her weight onto one hip, and looked at Terrance expectantly with a bored and slightly smug expression on her thin face.

"I see. Thank you…for that background information…." Draco didn't know what else to say to that. Why would a student be nervous because of him? It wasn't like he was anything like Severus Snape had been; a looming, broody, mysterious and quietly judgmental man. For the most part Draco spoke his mind openly, and provided his students with ample feedback that wasn't all criticism. He acknowledged good work when he saw it, regardless of the student who produced it; and, so far, he thought he was disrupting house points immensely fairly.

He took out his wand and waved it over Terrance's massive, snoring face. "_Exsuscito!"_

Terrance awoke with a start. "Wah-What happened?"

A few students giggled at the hazy, dumb-struck look on his face as he looked around and realized he had been asleep on the potion's room floor.

"Just an overly successful charm is all." Draco stood up and extended his hand to help Terrance up off of the floor.

"Thanks professor," mumbled Terrance and he began to flush red with embarrassment.

"No problem at all. Just do your best with the draught," Draco clapped a supportive hand on across Terrance's back, "and try not to worry about it too much."

Terrance nodding in understanding and set back to work, keeping his focus firmly set on the roots he was grinding so that he wouldn't have to pay attention to the whispering voices and curious stares about the room, especially the giggling coming from his lab partner.

"Well done professor, you handled that well, and very calmly," complimented Hermione. "A lot of new professors would have panicked."

"I've never been one to panic without adequate reason, Ms. Granger."

"I suppose that's true." she agreed before retaking her seat at the back of the room without another word.

As Draco passed through aisles of desks, looking into cauldrons to inspect the students' progressing work, he could feel Hermione's eyes following him across the room. Doing his best to ignore her watchful brown eyes, he made as many suggestions and critiques as possible in an effort to avert his attention.

Then out of nowhere came an ear-splitting shriek, the kind of scream that makes your heart skip a beat and float in your chest before you can ground it to become aware of what's occurred.

By instinct Draco rushed over, without a moment's hesitation, to where the scream had emitted and found Sophia panicking as she frantically moved away from her cauldron.

Hermione shot up as well, alert at the sound of her daughter screaming and rushed over. The moment she reached the desk, she pulled her daughter into her arms and tried to calm her down. Sophia was nearly hyperventilating.

"What's wrong?" He couldn't see what the matter was. Her potion was the correct color and consistency for the stage it was at, nothing seemed broken, and no one was bleeding.

Sophia was bright red, as she buried her humiliated face into the bend of her mother's shoulder. "A spider crawled out of my fluxweed and I freaked out…I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scream like that, but I'm terrified of them and it crawled onto my hand!" She shook her hands as the residual feeling of the spider creeping cross her fingers came to mind.

"I don't see it. You must have scared it away," said Draco as he peered around her station looking for the creepy crawler.

"I'm _not_ using that station unless I _know_ it's dead," stated Sophia adamantly. For a quick second, it largely reminded Draco of himself when he was being irrevocably defiant with his mother as a young child.

Instead of interrupting the process, Hermione just looked at Draco expectantly to see how he was going to handle this situation. Although her instinct told her to intervene completely and take care of her daughter, she wanted to see how Draco was going to handle this situation as a teacher.

"It's not going to hurt you Sophia. Fluxweed is known to attract garden spiders but not anything remotely dangerous. The only thing these spiders could harm is a fly or mosquito. I promise you have no reason to be afraid." He tried to reason with her, but she seemed set on remaining afraid no matter what he said.

Most of the students had realized what had happened by now, were bored of the situation, and were diligently working at their potions; but there remained a few watchful eyes peering at the situation with nosey excitement. Even though they were making calming draughts, this had been of the more exciting classes they'd had in a while

Draco did his best to remain calm and supportive as he reasoned with Sophia. He'd always found the fear of spiders to be irrational and silly, but he could see that Sophia had been genuinely terrified by the situation. The flush of her cheeks were slowly starting to calm down, but instead of regaining her normal tone, her skin now appeared pale and she still seemed shaken by the closer encounter.

"You can work at my station if you'd like?" Draco offered. There wasn't much else he could do to accommodate her. It wasn't as if he could promise there would be no more spiders in the room ever again. There were few reasons accommodations for unreasonable fears. "We can transfer your cauldron over there, and get you new Fluxweed? I'll even double check it for spiders for you because we bring it over."

Sophia seemed to consider this as she pursed her lips and stared hesitantly at the bowl of Fluxweed, as if she were expecting an army of hidden spiders to crawl out from the center of the dark, damp bowl. "I supposed, but I don't know how I'm supposed to make a calming draught when I feel this way now."

"You can use the charm I suggested. Just be careful that you don't get too enthusiastic about it. You saw what happened to Terrance." Draco said this with a small smile as he tight to lift her mood a little. It didn't work. Sophia still look terrified, but she did seem willing to move stations and keep working on her potion despite her current feelings.

"Right," said Sophia with a nod. Her hands were still trembling as she raised up her wand and cried out, "_Sedatio Animus!"_

Without warning, Sophia's body cascaded towards the floor. Reflexes kicked in as Draco lunged forward and caught her in his arms before she was able to hit the floor.

Hermione gasped out and attempted to reach out and catch her daughter as well, but she was already secure in Draco's grasp before she could make contact.

"She's alright. She's okay. She just knocked herself out." Draco assured Hermione immediately before she too began to panic. Although Draco had never known Hermione to be the panicking type, even in grave situations, he didn't know what to expect from her now. It had been so long since they'd interacted like this and it was, after all, her only child who was unconscious. Unlike snoring Terrance, Sophia had clearly passed out completely. The terror she had felt from the traveling spider had transferred to her charm and caused her to vastly over use it.

"I'm going to take her to hospital wing. Even if I awaken her here, I'm sure she's not going to be in a state to participate after that," offered Draco in a low hush directed to a mildly shaken Hermione. The entire class was watching them again and he didn't want to make this any more of a scene than it already was.

"I can take her," offered Hermione as she began to slide her arm around Sophia, but Draco didn't let go of her and they both stood there awkwardly grasping onto the passed-out student between them.

"Let me help you get her into the hall at least? I don't think you can carry her alone," insisted Draco, refusing to relinquish his grasp on Sophia.

It was true. Although Hermione's motherly instincts shouted that she would be capable of carrying her own child, Sophia was practically a woman now and it would have been difficult for Hermione to get her out of the classroom alone, even with magic.

Without waiting for an answer, Draco pulled Sophia in towards his chest and lifted her up in his arms. Hermione followed closely behind him as he carried Sophia out of the room and into the hall.

"Keep working on your draughts! They should be nearly finished when I get back!" Draco called out from over his shoulder as he left the room. He wasn't worried about leaving them unattended for a spell of time because both head boy and girl were in this classroom. If any student acted out, they would be more than capable of handling it. He reminded Hermione of this as they made their way towards the hospital wing.

"I really hope this won't reflect too badly on my review here," added Draco, trying to lighten mood between them as Sophia dangled unconsciously in his arms.

"I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. You can't know what your students are afraid of," offered Hermione as she walked on the side of Draco, but retained a healthy distance between them. She did want to walk so far away though that she would feel separated from her knocked-out child.

"I can't imagine when the last time you had two students pass out in a single class was though. That can't look terribly impressive, can it?"

"Just last week, Ginny had five students knock each other out in her defense against the dark arts class. It happens more often than you'd think," assured Hermione.

"Ah, well that's comforting to know, I guess." said Draco with a playful smile edging on this lips.

They turned the corner and approached the hospital wing. "Here we go."

Hermione held the door open for them to pass through then helped to get Sophia situation on a bed before they awoke her with bag of smelling salts frequently used during the school quidditch games to awaken players knocked out the bludgers.

"Did I pass out like Terrance?" groaned Sophia as she fluttered awake.

"You did sweetie," answered Hermione apologetically.

Sophia groaned in respond. "Great…I'm going to be the laughing-stalk for the rest of the year now."

"No, you won't. Did you hear the way Terrance was snoring? He sounded like a bull frog being stepped on by a Hippogriff. Way funnier. Everyone is gonna talk about that instead." offered Draco.

Sophia gave a small chuckle and smirked at the thought. "I guess he did look pretty stupid."

"That he did. Plus, as long as your mother doesn't scold me for it, I'll give anyone who taunts you a full month of detention. You just let me know if anyone gives you trouble?"

"Thanks professor. I will."

"Thanks for helping me get her down here Draco," said Hermione with an edge of finality as she began fixing the pillows behind Sophia's head.

Draco was about to correct her and remind her that she was the one who insisted on using the titles of professor and headmaster, but decided to let it go. It had been nice to hear her use his name for once, even if she hadn't realized that she had done so.

"It's was no problem. I'd better get back to class though. There's probably more unconscious students waiting for me," said Draco, giving Sophia a teasing wink.

Hermione nodded in agreement. "I'll be back for your last period to finish my notes. I just want to make sure everything is alright here."

"I'm fine mom," insisted Sophia as she pushed her mother's hand away from her forehead.

"Right. I'll see you in an hour then. " Draco excused himself from the hospital wing as Sophia tried to convince her mother that she was okay and that she was over reacting by making her stay there for the rest of the day.

"Terrance passed out and he's still in class!" It was apparent that Sophia was trying not to whine, as it was inappropriate for her age, but it was still clear through the strain of her voice that she was whining in protest to her mother's worrying.

"Which is fine. Terrance isn't my son, now is he? You're my child and as long as you're at Hogwarts, _I _decide what's best for you. Besides you only have one more period left today. What does it matter? I know you're doing well in all of your classes."

"I have quidditch tomorrow! You can't keep me here-"

"Fine! Then I'll let you leave by tomorrow, but you're staying here for the rest of the day."

Draco couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he shut the door behind him. They sounded exactly the same when they argued; two stubborn, brown-eyed, bushy-haired Grangers.

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A/N: Wow, I am overwhelmed by the amount of reviews for this story so far. I feel grateful for each and every one. It's such a motivator and so many of you are informative and supportive in your reviews. Thank you so much! My goal is to his 1000. That would be a huge FF milestone for me! Think it's possible?

Your craziest pairings were hilarious! My friends and I had many laughs and received many strange looks from the muggles we converse with.

My favorites (as in most twisted and hilarious) were Dobby/Sorting Hat (Sorting Hat: Put me on your head Dobby. Dobby: But sir, my ears are so long and pointy. Sorting Hat: Mmmm, I know. That's what I like about you. If I can take the sword of Gryffindor then I can surely handle your big, pointy elf ears Dobby. Dobby: If Dobby puts you on, will Dobby receive clothes? Sorting Hat: Clothes are the last thing I'm gonna give you Dobby...) Lmfao and for some reason the sorting hat has this smooth, low, slow-jams voice in my head. Omg, Lmao! FAV

Okay, *whew* the other disturbing pairings were Dumbledore/Socks...o_0 and most disturbing was Hagrid/Hedwig...which is nothing short of traumatizing. *shudders* The feathers...

I'm a little surprised no one mentioned Drapple. But, I supposed Draco eating an apple (Draco doing anything that draws attention to his mouth, really) is incredibly sexy so I understand.

Okay, so I have spring break this week and I want to read a few FFs. I don't read as much anymore because I'm always writing. What is your all time favorite Fanfiction recommendation here on FF? I will accept any Hp pairing, Thor, Hunger Games, Supernatural (No Wincest, please), and (do people still care about this?) Pirates of the Caribbean

Thanks!

See you next chapter!


	11. A Soaring Affection

_Think about it, there must be higher love; down in the heart or hidden in the stars above. Without it, life is a wasted time. Look inside your heart and I'll look inside mine. Things look so bad everywhere. In this whole world, what is fair? We walk blind and we try to see; falling behind in what could be._ _Worlds are turning and we're just hanging on; facing our fear and standing out there alone. A yearning, and it's real to me…_

_Steve Winwood_

.

Sophia stared anxiously at the clock that was hanging on the wall of her transfiguration class. It was the last class of the day on a Friday. As soon as that final bell rang she would be on her way to the first quidditch practice of the season and she couldn't wait to start.

The moment they were dismissed she raced down to the quidditch pitch when an eager smile plastered across her face.

She raced to the broom closet where she unhinged her Firebolt from its protective latches. The broom had been given to her as a hand-me-down present from her uncle Harry. He had used it during his days on the Gryffindor quidditch team and it had always given her residual luck. Sophia was incredibly protective of it and wouldn't let anyone else fly on it; not even Landen when he had been on the team with her.

Frequently, she would sneak down to the pitch to maintain and care for her Firebolt, shining it and up keeping its parts as best she could. The quidditch pitch was her sanctuary and that broom was her key to access it, her most treasured possession.

Being a skilled flyer was one of the few freedoms she had at her age. Her mother was terrified of heights, and she could not recall a time when she'd ever seen her mother actually fly on anything, much less a broom. She doubted if she even remembered how.

This was the one area where Sophia could excel and surpass her mother's ability. When it came to academics, it was fair to say that they were evenly matched. She had been fortunate enough to inherit her mother's brains. Sophia didn't receive the same that Hermione had during her school years, however; when someone sets all the records before you, high achievements become less commendable. Sophia had some of the highest grades in her year, but none of her academic performances had been greater than the high records her mother set during her time at Hogwarts.

It didn't faze her any longer. Not since she had gotten onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She had she seen her mother attempt to do what she could pull off on a broom, and it was one of the few skills she had that brought her real self-pride and a sense of well-earned accomplishment.

It was a beautiful day with perfect flying conditions. The sun was shining, the temperature was warm but not smoldering hot, and there was a light, considerate breeze that was tickling the curls of her hair as she walked out to meet the rest of the team.

Sophia was one of three chasers on the team. All of the chasers on the Gryffindor team were girls this year. Last year Landen had been on the team with her and it was going to be odd playing without him. He had been a chaser, as well as captain of the team. When they played together, they were so in sync with each other that the third chaser often seemed unnecessary or left out of the relationship they had establish on the pitch. They often made the third chaser feel like a 'third-wheel' without intending to.

Now that Landen had graduated, that wouldn't be an issue. This year, Sophia would be playing with a cute, dark haired, fifth year girl named Genevieve Boudreaux. New to the team this year, and replacing Landen's position as chaser, was a young and blonde second year chaser named Rachel Hadderson.

Both of their beaters were boys; a short, stocky, although slightly attractive sixth year named Richard Dennison and a tall, but muscular, seventh year named Harrison Lowe. Most people called Harrison Harry for short, and made regular jokes about comparing him to Harry Potter because, he too, had long and moppy dark hair with bright green eyes; although in true comparison, they hardly looked alike. Harrison didn't even wear glasses, nor did he sport any kind of scar although he had come close to earning a few on a quidditch pitch during a couple rough encounters playing against the Slytherin beaters. Regardless, the Gryffindor team had affectionately dubbed Harrison with the nickname of 'Chosen One' or 'Boy Wonder' because he was one of their best players. Originally, he had played as Gryffindor keeper but had changed positions halfway through the season the year before.

Their keeper was a fourth year boy named Evan Peterson. He was a transfer student from Durmstrang who had only started at Hogwarts the previous year. He was an excellent player who was skilled in almost all of the positions. Evan had been placed on the team playing as one of their beaters. Possibly because of his start at Durmstrang, he had a knack for bending the rules and playing on the outskirts of what some may consider dirty. It was because of his aggressive habits that Landen, when he was captain, switched him to the position of keeper and made Harrison a beater instead.

It turned out to be a positive adjustment. Harrison made a terrific beater and caused the team to have less penalties overall. Evan quickly adapted to his position proved why he had been placed in Gryffindor and not in Slytherin, despite his aggression and desire to win by any means necessary. He was, by far, their bravest player. 'The Daredevil Keeper' was his nickname amongst the school. Once moved to Keeper, he had immediately began showcasing his willingness and ability to push the edge of his position through frequent displays of gallant, bold, and borderline dangerous saves. He'd attempted saves that had never been seen on the Hogwarts quidditch pitch before; and although he was only a fourth year, it was apparent that he had a bright future awaiting him in the professional world of quidditch.

Their current team captain played as their seeker. She was a slender girl with sleek auburn hair named Olivia Ferguson. Initially, Sophia had felt incredibly disappointed when she hadn't been named as team captain for her final year, especially since Landen had been the previous team captain and he had made the decision to not pass the title on to her.

Olivia was only a fifth year and both Sophia and Olivia had managed to land a position on the team during their first year; an occurrence that was still very rare. However, Sophia could recognize that she lacked certain skills that would make her an effective leader, if she looked at it objectively.

She frequently lost her temper and became frustrated during practices if she felt other members weren't pulling their weight or could perform better than they were. Instead of approaching this frustration with grace and tact, she often lashed out and berated whoever was the perceived imbecile inciting her frustrations at that moment. Her sportsmanship had improved over the years, but during the first few years she had been an admitted sour loser; receiving multiple detentions for refusing to shake hands with the opposing team or losing house points for aggressive and blatantly rude behavior towards the opposing team.

During her third year, she'd nearly lost her position on the team all together when she pushed a Ravenclaw chaser off of his broom when they were attempting to descend, after the game had already ended. It was fortunate for her that he had broken his fall with arm and was able to bend the break in time for their next game; otherwise she had been sure she would have been booted off the team, and banned from playing quidditch ever again.

Olivia gathered everyone together on the center of the field and welcomed them back for the start of what was going to be a terrific year for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

"I am really excited for this year! I can tell that we're going to dominate over the other teams. I've already been getting information on their choice players and, I can tell you, none of the other teams are as organized as we are." Olivia sounded confident and enthusiastic, and completely comfortable with her new leadership position. Sophia swallowed down the urge to feel jealous and listened attentively.

"Also, we have an incredible advantage this year. Headmistress Granger has approved the use of mentors for all of the quidditch teams. Once a week, each team is allowed to bring in an outside resource, who was been approved by the school, to aid in practices. If we bring in a professional player we'll have to convince them to come in for free or cover the funds ourselves of course, but I don't suspect we'll really be needing that. Our team captain from last year, has agreed to drop by for a few practices, and I've already spoken with Professor Weasley and she's agreed to talk her husband into coming by for a few as well. For those of you who don't already know, Professor Weasley's husband is Harry Potter so that's a pretty big deal. He's an excellent quidditch player, and was the youngest seeker this school had ever seen, although I follow up close behind him by a couple months; as I'm sure you all already know."

Sophia was elated at the news that she didn't even take the time to feel nauseated by Olivia's apparent bragging. She had no idea about this new privilege before now but, clearly, Landen must have known and kept it from her as a surprise All summer she had been feeling bummed out that she'd have to wait for scheduled breaks to see her boyfriend, but that wouldn't be the case after all! She didn't care too much that Harry was going to be mentoring them as well. She been trained under her uncle since she was a child, and doubted there was much more that he could teach her. Like Harry and Olivia, Sophia had been one of the youngest chasers in Gryffindor history, but she didn't feel it was necessary to brag about it. Her skill could speak for itself on the quidditch pitch.

"Alright, so that's enough chit chat for now! Landen should be showing up soon to lend a hand but until he gets here I want you all up in the air, running warm up drills with your position. Evan, you can go warm up by the hoops. You know what to do."

Sophia walked over towards Genevieve and Rachel with the quaffle stuffed under her arm. They ascended into the sky and began their usual warm up of passing the quaffle back and forth. The beaters paired together and began to knock the bludger across the pitch, while Evan wasted no time as he began showing off. Sophia glanced over and caught him doing pull ups on his broomstick while suspended in the air. Evan caught her eyes and shot her a cocky wink, to which she rolled her eyes in response and passed the quaffle back over to Rachel, resisting the urge to toss it over and hit Evan in his smug little Durmstrang face.

The twerp wasn't worth her attention. Landen would be there any minute, and she couldn't help but stare down at the field in anticipation of his arrival. Rachel nearly caught Sophia off guard as she aggressively tossed the quaffle back in her direction. Sophia had to swoop off to the side to retrieve it because she had been distracted.

Eventually she spotted his shaggy, but adorable, mess of hair approaching the center of the field. Her hands tightened around the shaft of her broom stick as she refrained from diving down to meet him.

All the way up in the air, she could hear his laughter rebounding through the pitch as he greeted Olivia and they began to chat. It felt like forever before Olivia finally blew her whistle and called the team back down to the ground.

"Alright guys, all of you should remember Landen. I want us to run a mock game so that he can observe your techniques and at the end of practice he's going to give us all some feedback. "

Landen flashed Sophia a smile as Olivia spoke. Sophia resisted response to smile like a giddy idiot back at him. Instead, she shot him a smug little smirk and tried her best to retain a cool, calm demeanor; even though she could feel her knees going weak at the sight of him. She could feel his gaze fixed on her but tried to ignore him as she pretended to listen to Olivia giving them further instruction on how to play their mock-game.

This was going to be one of the more difficult practices yet. She and Landen had played together for a years, but she had never been in the position of being watched by him like this. Knowing that his deep eyes were going to be observing her like a hawk made her feel incredibly nervous and excited at the same time.

Olivia blew her whistle and the team mounted their brooms and prepared to play. As they pushed off the ground Sophia noticed her mother walking out onto the pitch and rolled her eyes.

Hermione had come to get a look at the first Gryffindor practice of the season and make sure that Sophia was doing alright after passing out the day before as a result of a charm. Before the school day started, she and Sophia had argued about whether Sophia should be allowed to attend the first practice at all. Hermione was worried about her and had insisted on being able to check up on her if she was going to attend at all.

"Ms. Granger! Hey! Good to see ya!" Greeted Landen enthusiastically as she walked towards him.

"Good to see you too Landen. I thought that the team might ask you to come back and help as a mentor."

"Yeah, Olivia owled me at the beginning of the week. I was more than happy to come. I don't have much else going on at the moment, anyway." Landen shoved his hands into his pockets, and glanced up at the players as they spoke, although he nervously averted his eyes from Sophia as much as possible.

"You're not working?"

"Well yeah, I am. Dad made me pick up a part time job, but that's not a big deal."

"Did he? Where are you working?" Hermione inquired.

Landen tried not to blush as he admitted, "Hogsmeade."

It would have made a lot more sense for him to get a job on Diagon Alley working at his uncle's joke shop, but Hogsmeade was much closer to a certain girl he fancied…

"That's a little out of the way for you isn't it?"

"Well, I apparate to work and they have a better broom shop than Diagon Alley does." Landen tried to justify without suspicion. "Plus, I get a commission where I work, whereas I'd only receive an hourly wage on Diagon."

"Ah, that makes sense. Things are going well for you then?"

"Quite well." Landen kept his gaze fixated towards the sky and attempted to keep his focus as Professor Granger seemed to interrogate him. He knew that she wasn't really interrogating him, she was just starting up a friendly conversation, but the guilt of knowing what he got up to with her daughter when she wasn't around made him feel like he was under pressure whenever she spoke to him.

Hermione averted her gaze upwards as well and squinted her eyes and she searched for her daughter. "Sophia looks like she's doing well up there. I'm glad to see she's feeling better."

"Feeling better?" Landen broke his observation and looked to Hermione with a confused expression. "I didn't know she had been ill."

"Oh, not ill. She had an accident in potions class is all that caused her lose consciousness. I was just concerned about her getting up on a broom so soon after the incident. Mothers worry unnecessarily, you know. Can't help it."

Landen breathed with relief but tried to make it look like a yawn. "That's true. She seems to be okay though, so that's good."

"Yes, you're right…Interesting choice making Olivia captain, by the way…" added Hermione as she watched Olivia searching the horizon for the snitch.

"Yeah, I think she'll do a great job."

"I guess, I had just assumed you were going to name Sophia as team captain. Not that I'm playing favorites or anything," she joked with a smile.

Landed responded with a nervous laugh that seemed to get stuck half-way down his throat. "She's pretty good. I think we all know that, but Olivia has the right leadership skills. It's not always the best player who becomes captain. It's the person who can bring out the best in every player and not just themselves."

"Well spoken, Landen. I couldn't agree more. I was actually quite proud of you for making the right decision. I have to admit that for a while I had assumed you were going to pick Sophia just because of your history together."

Landen knew that she was referring to how they had practically been brought up together and bit his tongue to keep himself from inferring anything different in response to her comment.

"Professor, you said that mentors are allowed to attend the games of the team they're helping right?" asked Landen, quickly changing the topic off of Sophia.

"Yes, I did say that."

"Am I allowed to bring a guest with me?"

Hermione thought on it for a moment then answered, "I suppose that wouldn't be a problem. Sure. Just make sure you get them a guest pass to go along with yours. Who were you wanting to bring? Are you seeing someone? I think a quidditch game would make a cute date."

Landen turned three shades of red then pretended to go into a coughing fit so she wouldn't notice.

"Merlin's beard, are you alright?"

Landen gave his chest a sharp pound and added an extra hearty cough for dramatic effect. "Ugh, yeah. Just…accidently swallowed a bug is all. Happens all the time, but I'm usually in the air when it does. Quite unpleasant, really, but I'm alright."

"Does it really?"

"Oh yeah," he bluffed. "When you're up there, in the air, you tend to swallow loads of em. You almost get used to the taste. I only chocked because that one caught me off guard…"

"Huh." Hermione could tell he was embarrassed and decided to bring the conversation back on track. "So, who did you say you wanted to bring?"

"Oh, just my dad. He had asked if he could come with me to a couple games if it was allowed and I told him I'd ask. He's all nostalgic about his own days on the Gryffindor team, you know. I just think he wants to stroll down memory lane is all."

It was Hermione who had to hide her blush this time. Realizing that he was asking to bring Ron had caused her to flush for a complicated arsenal of reasons. None of which Landed needed to know about.

She straightened up her spine and feigned indifference. "Sure, that would be fine with me." She let out a sigh of finality and clapped her hands together for good measure. "Well, I'd best be off! I have loads to do. I just wanted to drop in and make sure everything was going smoothly for my favorite team. Do me a favor, and keep an extra eye on Sophia for me?"

"Alright Mrs. G. Will do. I'll see you around?"

"Of course. Thanks again for doing this for the team, Landen. I'm sure I'll see you at the first game…with your father…Good bye."

"Bye."

Landen waited until Hermione had left the pitch completely before he allowed himself to breath in a relaxed manner. He had missed almost all of the practice because he had been so distracted by her presence. Luckily he knew all of the team, with the exception of the new chaser, and had plenty of things he knew he could comment on to help their skill and form.

Olivia sounded her whistle and the team landed back on the field, rounded up, and awaited Landen's feedback.

"Right, well, overall you guys look pretty good. Rachel, I know you're new and you must be nervous but you can't be afraid to be more aggressive with the quaffle. I've been watching Sophia and Genevieve play for years and, believe me, whatever you throw at them they're going to catch. That being said, Genevieve, stop getting so distracted. You know what I'm talking about."

Genevieve blushed pink and stared down at her toes. Everyone knew that she had a crush on Evan and spent half of their practices fawning over him as he showed off his skills. It wasn't a secret and Evan seemed to relish in the attention.

"Sophia, good job over all. Just remember that you're on a Firebolt. Stop riding it like it's some kind of fragile MoonTrimmer or something feeble like that. You're not going to break it if you ride it harder."

A few players giggled at this and Sophia turned a violent shade of scarlet. Landen hadn't meant to embarrass her, and he could apologize later. He managed to retain a cool demeanor and didn't miss a beat as he continued onto his next note. "Evan, everyone knows that you can block a quaffle with your massive head. Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you have to. When you're in practice, concentrate on perfecting more traditional saves. You can rehearse your little tricks on your own time. Richard and Harry, you guys both seem a little tense. Make sure you get some extra practice time in with each other before the next practice. Your form and technique is good overall, but you want to make sure you're able to connect a deeper level. You're not two individual beaters, you work as a team. One unit. Make sure we can all tell that. My last note is for Olivia, I guess. Don't squint when searching for the snitch. It may seem like you're focusing more, but you're actually just limiting your vision and making things harder for yourself. Keep your eyes open and stay calm. You'll have a greater line of sight that way and you'll know the snitch when you see it. You have a great deal of confidence as captain, make sure that translates into your position of seeker."

Landen's feedback was so thorough that the team hardly wanted to stay for Olivia's additional points, but seeing as she was their captain they all waited and respectful listened to what she had to say as well. Even though she basically reiterated everything Landen had said into her own words.

Sophia fell back after the practice ended as the team made their way to the locker rooms.

"How long have you known?" She rounded on Landed with a huge smile on her face.

"Just the beginning of the week. I swear! If I knew I'd get to see you during the year, I would have told you."

Sophia was biting her lip flirtatiously. "I'm so happy you're here."

"Oh yeah?" Landed cautiously took hold of her hand and pulled her back to the edge of the pitch so that they were leaning under the shadows cast by the stadium risers. "I'm glad your mother didn't stay for the whole practice. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do this."

Landen swopped his head down in one smooth motion and captured Sophia's lips in a heated kiss. Sophia felt her knees give out and wrapped her arms around his neck in response. Her lips were slightly dry from being up in the air for an hour but neither of them cared. Landen's mouth was wet and warm; more than accommodating for her present lack of moisture.

"Just like old times," he commented with a grin as they pulled away.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to miss having to hide around the school in order to get you to myself."

"I'm not. I can't wait for you to graduate so I can have you for myself whenever I want."

"When you are coming back to mentor again?"

"The week after your first game. You'll see me before that though. I'm gonna be at the game with my dad. Also, I got a job at the Hogsmeade broom shop so you can drop by and see me on your visits."

Sophia squealed in excitement and jumped up on her toes in a very girlish manner. Landen was happy to see her so excited. "Merlin's beard, that's great. I'll be sure to owl you our scheduled visit dates!"

"Perfect, and I'll try to request off of work for then if I can. At the very least, we'll be able to have part of the day to ourselves."

"Perfect," beamed Sophia.

"You'd better get to the changing rooms before the team wonders where you are."

"Yeah, you're right."

Sophia snuck in another quick kiss. "I'll see you soon babe."

"You bet your lucky ass, you will," quipped Landed as he watched her run off the field and slip into the changing rooms.

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A/N: Okay, so here's what happened. I had spring break and my plan was to write a ton of FF and be super awesome at posting. Instead, I got a new SIMS expansion back and that consumed my life...Any of you who play the SIMS will understand the force that I was under! I apologize. Back at school now so here's your update. I know there's no D/HR in this chapter but there are two love stories going on here and I gotta twist em both in here as best I can.

Also, I got a few questions on whether this story is going to have a happy ending. Yes it will. I promise it is heading towards a happy Dramione ending. You'll just have to be patient as we get there ;)

Thanks for your many, awesome reviews!

See you next chapter.


	12. Little Green Quidditch Monsters

_I wish that you were me so you could feel this feeling…_ _I know when you're not honest…_ _Sometimes I want to walk in your shoes…_ _look in the mirror and I say to myself, "You can't survive like this."…_ _And I hate you for your lies and your covers…_ _I know that I'm being hateful, but that ain't nothing. I'm just jealous, I'm just human; Don't judge me…_

_Beyoncé_

_._

Hermione was greeted by an overwhelming sea of a red and green in the Great Hall as the students showed support for their favored team by sporting their house colors radiantly. Gryffindor versus Slytherin was the first quidditch game of the season.

Quidditch had never been a favored interest of Hermione's, but even she donned her old Gryffindor scarf in the spirit of school pride. As Headmistress, it was a bit biased of her but she had been a Gryffindor long before she had become a professor or Head of the school.

The students began to steadily trickle out of the Great Hall as they made their way to the stadium. Hermione stood up to make her way there as well when her eyes caught the presence of a familiar face slipping into the great hall.

"Harry!" Hermione called out. Ginny, who had been eating in the Great Hall besides Hermione, looked up as well and spotted her husband approaching them. The three of them met happily in the middle of the hall.

"Hey love," Harry greeted his wife first with a modest kiss on her forehead before turning to give Hermione a small greeting hug. "Hi Hermione."

"I didn't know you were coming to the game," said Hermione.

"Technically I'm not here for the game. I'm here on Ministry business. I have to check in with Malfoy and do an update on his file. I figured I might as well make a day of it and see my favorite team play against my most despised team by arriving a bit early."

"Plus, you get to see your best friend and your wife," added Ginny.

"Yes, well that's just an assumed bonus," agreed Harry as he put his arm around her and pulled her close in towards him.

"Ron's coming today as well. It'll be like old times for us watching the games," chimed Ginny.

"Is he?" Hermione acted like she hadn't remembered he would be coming.

She had been the one to approve his guest pass so of course she knew he was expected to be there. If only she'd had a legitimate reason to deny his pass and save herself the anguish of being near him for an entire afternoon.

"Yeah, he told me his son is mentoring the Gryffindor quidditch team now?" asked Harry.

"Yup. Landen's already been to one practice to help the team out. It went well. I stopped by to observe for a bit."

"That's good," said Harry.

"Are you going to be mentoring as well Hun?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah, they asked me to and I'd agree to try. I've just been busy with work is all. You know I'd take any excuse to get out of the office and onto a broom."

"You haven't been on a broom in ages love. Just make sure you don't hurt yourself trying to show off your stuff. Do you even own a broom anymore?" Ginny teased.

"Let's just say I got myself a little treat after I gifted Sophia with my Firebolt. I'm set."

"You didn't tell me that."

"I don't tell you everything. You're only my wife." he said to Ginny with a wink.

"Right," Ginny said with a laugh as she held onto his arm, walked out of the Great Hall with them, and headed towards the quidditch pitch.

/

As head of Slytherin House, Draco had a choice seat within the stadium. In honor of his house, he was wearing deep green robes with silver lining.

It was odd to be on the other side of the Slytherin team fence. He hadn't watched Slytherin play since he was in his first year and aspiring to land a position on the team himself. He could clearly remember watching enviously as the glorious green and silver robed players wisped past him, high up in the stands.

The teams were lining up when Draco first noticed Sophia on her Firebolt. Draco couldn't help but feel a peculiar prick of pride as he watched his student staring down the opposing team with a fierce concentration; even if she was on the opposing team.

The whistle blew and both teams shot out in action. The game had begun.

It was disappointing to admit, but the Gryffindor team was clearly much stronger than Slytherin that year. Draco watched as the Slytherin team captain punched his beater's mallet into the air in frustration as the first goal was made by Gryffindor within the first couple minutes of gameplay. It was a humiliating start for the Slytherin team.

The stands across from him cheered and raised up like a fluid mountain of red and gold. Even through the multitude of people, Hermione stood out through the midst. Draco watched her from afar looking happy and proud, her smile radiating all the way across the pitch.

She was standing next to Harry Potter, who Draco had expected to be there. They had a meeting scheduled later that day to confirm, for the Ministry, that Draco was adhering to the restrictions of his probation and abiding the law. He wasn't worried about it. Since arriving at Hogwarts, he'd hardly left at all, and only had regular communication with very few people; mainly a select few staff members and his mother.

On the other side of Hermione however, he noticed a familiar red head that he hadn't laid eyes on since his trial…Weasley. He was standing next to a young man that Draco didn't recognize.

The next goal was scored by Sophia. The crowd roared even louder than they had before.

Ron jumped up with the rest of the crowd in a wave of excitement and pulled Hermione into an unexpected embrace. Draco noticed this immediately and felt a weird surge of jealously shoot through him.

Hermione politely responded to the gesture as to not embarrass herself in front of Harry or any of the students. It was nauseating hug for her to withstand, and the moment they separated she scooted herself further down the bench to affirm some space between her and him. Unfortunately, from where Draco was standing, he could not tell the manner of Hermione's response. All he could tell was that she had allowed Ron to embrace her and it made him feel uncomfortable.

It seemed he was paying as much attention what Hermione was doing as he as to the game. It was then that his thoughts began to race with possibilities…

Why was Weasley here to begin with?

Why was he sitting next to Hermione, instead of sitting next to his best friend Potter?

Draco's eyes then shot to Sophia who was trying to obtain passion of the quaffle, then back to Ron, and then back over to Sophia again who had managed to obtain it from the Slytherin team.

Was it possible that Hermione had given birth to a child with the Weasel?

If his memory served him right, he believed Ron was married. Although, that didn't really account for much, seeing as Draco had met numerous wizards in his day who had illegitimate children on the side. They did have a romantic past together, even if it hadn't ended well. It would also explain why Sophia shared her mother's last name…

It was difficult to focus on Sophia's features when she was zooming around on a broom, trying to shoot the quaffle through Slytherin posts, as he tried to assess whether or not she looked anything like the freckled face git sitting across the stadium from him. It was impossible to tell from the distance he was at.

Draco almost didn't want to know the truth. The idea of Hermione having a child with Ron made him feel queasy inside. It didn't matter that Hermione was no longer his, her actions still continued to affect him.

He knew, as he had always known, that it would be a lie to tell himself that he didn't still care about Hermione and have feelings for her. The deeper truth, that he still loved her and always would, was just harder to admit.

Draco spent most rest of the game trying to note any similarities and differences Sophia had with Ron, and tried to observe and interpret Ron's interactions with Hermione as best he could.

Suddenly, his attention was diverted back to the game when a Slytherin beater shot a bludger straight towards Sophia face. Draco felt his body tense up as it seemed apparent that it was going to hit her square on in the face, when Harrison Lowe shot up out of nowhere and knocked the bludger straight towards Terrance Davenport; who was knocked away from his post as a result of this. He looked infuriated as he scrambled to regain his position in front of the Slytherin posts but he wasn't fast enough.

Genevieve took advantage of this vulnerability and with the assistance of Rachel passed the quaffle through the post with ease before Terrance was able to reestablish himself, and scored again for the Gryffindor team.

Despite their recent goal, the close call of a bludger smashing into her face seemed to anger Sophia more than anything and she furiously bolted towards the quaffle at the first opportunity she got. With some aggressive, and mildly dangerous fly, she managed to intercept the quaffle from the Slytherin chasers and passed it back over to Rachel who scored for the second time in a row to Terrance's dismay.

The Gryffindor stands were going wild.

Annoyed by this, the Slytherin chasers began to target Sophia. Draco watched as the team captain seemed to whisper something to their beater. They separated smug grins and suddenly they were both aiming to hit Sophia and take her out of the game. It was clear they had made her their primary focus as they chased after her and attempted to surround her between them, their beating mallets raised high and threatening.

Hermione noticed this too and took hold of Harry's hand as she tensed up with nerves. "They're marking her aren't they?" It was events like this that made her despise Quidditch. If her daughter was about to get injured she couldn't bear to watch it.

"Don't worry Hermione. Sophia can get herself out of this situation. They don't know her temper. I bet you anything, they're going to regret marking her," said Harry coolly.

It was true. Sophia had noticed right away that the beaters were trailing her.

One of the Slytherin beaters was a ghoulish looking seventh year, Joshua Karver. He was the team captain. He and Sophia had a long standing grudge against each other that they'd held since their first year when they were established as rivals. The other beater was a cowardly fifth year student named Isaac, who had only landed his position on the team because he was Joshua's younger brother and, as such, did anything he told him to do.

The two idiot brothers were more focused on where Sophia was flying than what the other two Gryffindor chasers were doing. Knowing this, Sophia took advantage of the situation and lured both of the brothers away from the Slytherin pitch so that Rachel and Genevieve could try to take the quaffle and score without the interference of the bludgers slowing them down.

Then Sophia spotted Richard, one of the Gryffindor beaters, a little ways in front of her line of direction and had an idea. She waited until she heard the sound of cheering as Genevieve got the quaffle past the Slytherin Keeper, and then she charged towards Richard at full speed.

Richard wasn't expecting to be charged at by his own team mate. It threw him off guard, and before he could react Sophia had shouldered into him and snatched the beater stick out of his hand.

Before the Slytherin beaters could interfere, she had zoomed straight towards the bludger and smashed into the direction of the first Slytherin beater, Joshua, causing him to nearly spin of his broom as she snapped the back of it clean off with her it.

"C'mon! You want some too?!" She bellowed out at Isaac, the second beater, as the penalty whistle sounded loud and clear.

Richard rounded on her and snatched his mallet back out of her hand before both teams were grounded for a reset.

Sophia was certain she'd earned herself multiple detentions for that little stunt but she didn't show if she cared or not. A foul was called on Gryffindor team, and points were docked from their score.

Although, this wasn't nearly as damaging for them as was the broken broom the Slytherin beater now had to deal with. Sophia had smashed it so well that the reparo charm he was desperately trying to perform on it was having little to no affect.

The magic in the brooms interfered with most charms. This was partially to protect them against cheating but it was also the nature of the magic itself. Sophia knew this from having had taken her Firebolt in for repairs on numerous past occasions.

Eventually, the Slytherin beater was forced to borrow a lousy school broom if he intended to stay in for the rest of the game. This affected his ability to fly well and gave the Gryffindor team a great advantage. With only one fully able beater to slow them down, the three Gryffindor chasers scored goal after goal and played at their prime for the duration of the game.

By the time Olivia spotted and successfully caught the snitch, they almost didn't have need for the points at all. It was a clear win for Gryffindor!

At the end of the game, as head of house, Draco was expected to stand by his team as they shook hands with the winning team.

As was required, Sophia shook hands with each Slytherin member, a smug expression stayed on her face all the while. By the time she got to the beater whose broom she had damaged there was a thick pause.

Joshua grimaced at her with a foul expression and tightly gripped her hand. For a second Draco thought Josh was thinking about hitting her. It seemed that Hermione, who was lined up with her winning team, had the same thought as she began to reach for her wand in preparation. Both heads of houses paused and waited for one of the students to act next.

Sophia's eyebrow was arched up in amused expectation as her smile curled down into an arrogant, and provoking smirk. "Good game, wasn't it Karver? Until next time?"

Joshua almost seemed to growl but thought twice about acting on the ideas passing through his head. "Whatever Granger. Just watch yourself."

"Pretty sure that's what I just did, but whatever."

To the relief of all those around them, they finally dropped hands and moved onto the next player.

After the team members had all shaken hands, Hermione approached Draco and extended her own hand, as was expected.

"Good game professor, but I guess the better team won. There's always next time."

"Is that bragging I hear from you, professor? Not very sportsman-like now is it?" Draco teased, but didn't push his point as he returned the gesture and shook her smooth, ever soft hand.

With the formalities out the way, the Gryffindor house wasted no time in celebrating. The students seemed to run from the stands as they made their way to the common room.

Although it was missed by the other adults present, Draco had noticed as Sophia rushed away with the young man he had seen sitting next to Ron in the stands, holding hands.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Draco were the last ones left on the field after the students left. Draco decided to follow along with the group as they made their way inside.

"Can't help but wonder where Sophia learned to fly like that eh?" remarked Ron as he clapped a hand onto Hermione's back. "I think we all know it's safe to say that she didn't get the flying gene from her mother."

"No, I think it's safe to say that Harry's influence has had a profound effect on her flying ability and that my daughter has a gift" responded Hermione sharply as she moved away from Ron and placed herself between Draco and Ginny.

She didn't seem to notice, but it was the closest they had been since his release.

Draco could smell her aroma as she walked beside him. It was a soft fragrance of warm cinnamon and vanilla. Unfortunately, his basking appreciation for Hermione's scent was interrupted by Weasley's crude mouth.

"What'd you think of the game Malfoy? Long time since anyone has seen you out of Azkaban. Must be great to be out in the free air, eh? Even if it is to watch your favorite team lose under Gryffindor triumph!" Ron commented inappropriately.

Draco ignored the second part of his question. "I think they all played brilliantly. Although I think I'll have to meet up with the Slytherin team and pass on a few pointers of my own. I can't stand to be head of a house that plays like that. You wait. Next game you're going to see a completely different team. Gryffindor will have a force to reckon with."

"I don't know about that. Don't you think you're a bit rusty yourself after all this time, mate? They didn't let you take out the old broom and fly about for fun at Azkaban now did they?" Ron was the only one to laugh at his comment. "Honestly, I'm a bit surprised they ever let you out."

The mood was becoming increasingly awkward. "Harry, don't you and Draco have a meeting you have to get to?' Ginny offered.

"Yes, we do. Is now a good time for you?" Harry asked Draco.

"Yeah. Yes it is."

"Why don't we get to it then? Can we use your office?"

"Of course."

"Alright then." They all stopped walking for a moment so Harry could say a quick farewell to his wife then leave with Draco.

As Harry and Draco proceeded towards the dungeons, Draco couldn't help but feel like Hermione's eyes were watching him from behind, but he didn't dare turn around to check.

/

Harry went ahead and made himself comfortable in Draco's office, pulling out a chair for himself. Draco felt odd sitting behind his own desk when he was the one being interviewed but Harry didn't say anything about it as he pulled a parchment out of his robe and began to spread it out.

"No need to be nervous about anything Malfoy. Just a few routine questions. You haven't come up on any Ministry radar so this is really just a formality for the records."

Draco nodded in understanding and waited for Harry's questions.

"Have you been in contact with any former death eaters since your release?"

Draco answered truthfully. "I went to visit my parents shortly after my release."

Harry nodded and jolted down a quick note. "Visitation with them was approved before your release so that's not an issue. Did you discuss any dark arts with them when you were there though?"

Draco shook his head. "No, I just spoke with my mother and we reconnected is all."

"As you know, you've been tracked since your release. Since then, you haven't ventured to any places that would raise cause for suspicion. Have you gone anywhere since your release that you feel the Ministry should know about?"

"I basically stay here unless I have to leave for something like supplies for class. I've been living a pretty boring routine honestly. I'm not trying to stir any kind of trouble for myself. I'm grateful with the life I have right now. It's worlds better than anything I had in Azkaban, I can tell you that."

"I hope you realize just how privileged you are to be teaching while under Ministry probation. I know that your parents moved a lot of pieces to make that happen but it's really Hermione you should be thanking for allowing it." Harry pointed out.

"I realize that and I am incredibly grateful for it. Believe me."

"Surprisingly, she tells me you've been doing rather well over all."

"She said that?"

"She let me read over your review notes," affirmed Harry.

Hermione still hadn't gone over her review with Draco so up until now he had no real idea of what she'd thought of his teaching. He couldn't help but feel a little puffed up and proud at hearing that she approved of the job he'd been doing thus far.

Harry went through a few more standard questions with Draco before rolling up the parchment and returning it to his robe.

"I have to admit Malfoy, I'm surprised and even a little impressed at your transition so far."

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno…something about you…has changed I think."

"I changed a long time ago Potter. Even before Azkaban happened. You just never noticed."

It was true. Hermione had helped form him into the man he was now. No trial he faced would ever change the truth of that transformation. No circumstance would ever affect the love he still felt in his heart for her, and knew that he always would feel. He didn't expect anyone, especially Harry Potter, to understand that; but he knew it to be true.

/

After his meeting with Harry, Draco grabbed a quick bite to eat from the Great Hall and made way to retire for the night.

Thoughts of Hermione, Ron, and Sophia swarmed his thoughts. He closed his eyes and tried to match her up face to Ron's as best he could and decipher whether it was even a real possibility. A churning feeling in his gut told him that it was.

Though he'd noticed that Hermione had seemed uncomfortable when Ron had touched her in the hallway. All Ron had done was put a hand on her shoulder and it had caused her to flinch away from him.

Was this because she was nervous of their relationship being found out? Had something happened between them when he was away that had changed the dynamic of their relationship?

Draco remembered that their break up had been a painful one for Hermione and although he'd never known Hermione to be a truly hateful person, he had always gotten the impression that she didn't really care much for Ron after things had fallen apart between them. Besides, he knew for a fact that Hermione was acquainted with Ron's wife and he couldn't see her interfering with anyone's marriage. Even if it was the Weasel's.

Draco wondered if it was possible Ron wasn't married any longer. It still didn't make sense to him though. If Ron were out of his marriage and there was something going on between him and Hermione, then why wouldn't they just come out with it so that they could be a family?

His mind was spinning with the possibilities and none of them were sitting well with him.

He made up his mind to shut the ideas out of his head as he approached his bedroom door. If he kept obsessing on what Hermione may or may not have done while he was away, he was never going to sleep again. Besides, what could he ever do to change the past even if he didn't find out what had occurred?

To Draco's surprise, there was a school owl sitting on his window ledge, waiting patiently for him to arrive.

It was odd. No one other than his mother bothered to send him owls any longer. If it was just an administrative message about the school the owl would have just dropped it off and left.

He wondered who the owl was from.

The owl extended its talon and Draco carefully untied the small note dangling from it.

He recognized the handing writing instantly as belonging to her and his heart leapt involuntarily before he had even read the first word.

_Professor Malfoy,_

_I realize that this may be short notice considering the request, but if you would be able to grant me a favor I would be incredibly grateful. Professor Weasley (Ginny Potter) was supposed to accompany me this weekend on the Hogsmeade trip as a chaperon. Unfortunately, she has pulled out of her commitment for personal reasons, and I have been having difficulty getting another professor to fill the position. Everyone seems to have plans they can't, or are unwilling to, break. Would you be willing to join me this weekend in accompanying the students to Hogsmeade in order to assure their safety and compliance with school rules and regulations? _

_Your soonest reply is politely requested,_

_Headmistress Hermione Granger_

It was a very professionally written letter, and yet it still put a smile onto Draco's face and halted the turbulent thoughts that had been plaguing him only moments ago.

An entire afternoon with Hermione? This could be a chance for him to get his foot in the door and remind her that he was a changed man. There was even a chance that he could get a glimpse at how deeply her supposed indifference towards him truly ran.

Maybe, if even for half a day, she would forgot about their past and they would be able to simply enjoy each other's presence as some level of friends.

He could only hope.

With an air of optimism, Draco flipped around the parchment and wrote out his replay enthusiastically.

_Dearest Headmistress Granger,_

_Nothing would please me more than to accompany you to Hogsmeade…to chaperone the students of course. Let me assure you that I do recognize the professionality of our current relationship and hope that you will not take this in the wrong way, but I will always enjoy an opportunity to be in your company. Count me in!_

_Looking forward to the weekend,_

_Professor Draco Malfoy_

_._

_._

_._

_._

A/N: I wrote five chapters today (including this one) Woohoo! I love it when my muse is working, but I do not enjoy having to read over and ( I will admit) badly edit my own chapters lol I don't have the patience for a beta and it's usually year after I publish my writing that I catch, or even notice, the majority of my minor grammer mistakes. Ah well, such is life! I hope you enjoy my stories, despite my typos!

Thank you all for your enlightening and encouraging reviews. I especially appreciate the few of you who take the time to review each chapter, and look for your usernames after every update. I also love it when someone reviews for the first time. I like hearing feedback from each and every one of you. It keeps me focused and helps me stay motivated.

Thanks!

Until we meet again! (In the next Chapter, likely)


	13. Twinkling Past

_No matter what the people say, I'm gonna love you anyway. You are my life, I can't let go…All that I know now is to give you all of me; and no matter how long it takes, every part of me belongs to your love. Help me, help me…_

_Anthony Hamilton _

.

Filch had badly aged over the years; his sagging wrinkled skin and rotted teeth only served to make him look more wicked than ever. As he stood at the front of the line, checking off approved students for Hogsmeade, even Draco felt like he didn't want to go near the man if it could be avoided. Several students flinched and scrunched up their noses as they walked past te jeering old man.

"That's all of approved students Headmistress," drawled Filch as he passed Hermione the register of students.

"Thank you Filch," said Hermione kindly. She pitied Filch ever since Mrs. Norris had passed away. She had offered to help him find a new pet but he had burst out into tears at the suggestion and then yelled at her for suggesting that Mrs. Norris might be replaceable. Since then, she avoided the topic but tried to be as courteous as possible to the man.

"I caught three first years trying to sneak into the crowd. I sent them to my office to await punishment. If you'd like I could-,"

"No thank you Filch. You know that the answer to the question you were about to ask will always be no," replied Hermione as kindly as she could manage while making the seriousness of her reply un-mistakenly clear.

The crowd commenced towards the line of thestrals and carriages waiting to take them into the town.

There was a carriage reserved at the front of the line just for the staff. Draco was already waiting inside of it when Hermione joined him.

She tentatively look up at him before she opened the side door and climbed up. Her leg accidently brushed up against his thigh as she took her seat and adjusted into place.

Once she was settled in, the thestrals all began to move forward towards their destination of Hogsmeade.

"I really appreciate you covering this shift with such short notice Professor," spoke up Hermione. They had spent half of the trip staring out at the scenery surrounding them in silence, but eventually the tension between them grew awkward and she felt the need to say something, anything.

"It was no problem. I really haven't gotten out much so this is a bit of a treat for me. I was happy you asked."

"I suppose."

"Is everything alright with Potter's wife? I mean, since she couldn't come?"

"Professor Wesley you mean?" Hermione corrected. She was speaking to him but she kept her gaze set straight forward in the direction of where they were going, almost as if she were afraid to look at him and catch his eyes. Almost as if she were afraid to come to terms with what she'd face.

"Yes, you know what I meant. Sorry."

"Everything is fine. Thanks for your concern, I guess. Her brother Bill just had another baby with his wife Fleur so she went to visit them over the weekend. The baby came a week early so she wasn't expecting to leave so soon."

"How exciting," responded Draco.

"Mmmhmm. It is." Hermione crossed her legs tightly as she nervously tapped her fingers against her knee.

"Although I suppose must be pretty scary becoming a parent," commented Draco as casually as he could manage without drawing suspicion to his real point.

"It's not their first. So, Harry tells me your meeting with him went well?" said Hermione, quickly changing the topic from parenthood and children to something else.

"He said that?"

"Yes. He said that you're transitioning back into wizarding life much better than he had anticipated."

"Not to be disrespectful, but it's not like Potter ever had any faith in me to begin with."

Hermione couldn't argue with that.

"But I can't take all the credit for my transition back. I've been fortunate enough to have a lot of help."

Even though Hermione's gaze remain fixed away from him, Draco continued to look at her as they spoke. It didn't matter if she wasn't granting him eye contact. He enjoyed just being near her like this.

"I guess I've been a bit surprised with you too. I thought you'd have more difficulty."

"How so?"

"I don't know exactly," she shrugged. "I just know that Azkaban changes people. It damages them beyond repair. No one is ever the same after they get out."

"It can ruin people," he admitted. "I guess I was damaged long before I went there; once you hit bottom you can only grow up, right?"

"One can only hope so."

The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

When the thestrals came to a halt, Hermione gathered the students together with Draco's aid.

"Remember to meet back here at the scheduled time. Students who arrive late will receive detention and possibly have their privileges stripped from going on future trips so be poignant. Remember that you're representing your school at all times! Be safe and have fun you lot! See back here in a couple hours!"

The student's dispersed into their small groups of friends; excitingly chatting with one another, their fingers full of spending money. Sophia was amongst them. She quickly, and quietly, ditched her friends as soon as they were out of her Mother's eyesight and made her way for the broom shop where she knew Landen would be waiting for her.

"So, what do we do? Just walk around town and wait for a student to cause trouble?" Draco asked as they began walking down onto the main street.

"Basically. That, and be available in case there's some kind of emergency. These trips are usually uneventful but every once in a while it's necessary to have someone here."

"Sounds good to me. Anything in particular you'd like to do pass the time?"

"Nothing in particular. I usually just browse through and window shop to pass the time."

"There's a broom shop in Hogsmeade isn't there?"

"I believe so."

"I gotta admit that last game made me miss having a broom. I'm not going to be much good helping the Slithering quidditch team without one. Do you mind coming with me to go and buy one?"

"Sure…" Hermione was a little hesitant to take any invitation offered but Draco but she couldn't really see the harm of it considering their circumstances and agreed. Although she walked ahead of Draco, quite a few paces, so that she felt there was a safe distance between them. Being along with Draco made her feel nervous in more than one way.

She had asked Draco to help her because she knew he'd be willing to help, and the stress of finding someone to take Ginny's place on top of the rest of her responsibilities had weighed on her so much that she eventually caved in to the easiest solution.

The reality of being in Hogsmeade with Draco felt a lot different than she had imagined, however. It was like a blast from the past and she had to be incredibly aware of herself. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea about any of their interactions and get confused about their relationship. The last thing she wanted was for him to start opening doors from the past that she had emotionally bolted close.

They turned the corner and faced a small shop that had a little broom hanging from its sign. As they approached, Draco noticed an older woman struggling to open the door; her hands full with a bundle of new broom ends. He rushed forward, ahead of Hermione, and quickly held open the door for her.

The women gave a sigh of relief and smiled sweetly. "Why thank you so much young man. I don't know why that make these doors heavier than a troll. Quite ridiculous."

Draco returned her smile, "It's no problem at all."

The little woman passed by Hermione as she walked away and gave her a small pat on the arm, "Got a good one there, you have. Good lookin' too." The old woman winked and chuckled to herself as she scuttled on down the road.

Hermione immediately turned pink with embarrassment, but Draco pretended not to notice and acted as if he hadn't heard what the woman had said as he chuckled to himself and waited for Hermione to enter the shop before shutting the door behind them

"Shut up," muttered Hermione as her face started to transition to a deep red.

"I didn't say a word!" remarked Draco with a flaunting smile.

Hermione scowled at him.

"Ms. G!"

"Landen! I almost forgot you worked here," said Hermione, relieved to have a distraction.

"Merlin Mom. Are you stalking me or something? I don't need you to personally chaperone me through Hogwarts," whined Sophia who was sitting on the edge of the cashier's counter.

"Get down from there," scolded Hermione.

Sophia hopped off of the counter and folded her arms together with frustration. If her mother ruined the only time she had to see Landen, she was going to cry. He wasn't even supposed to be working, but his replacement had called in for the day and his boss had begged him to stay on for a double shift. This trip was disappointing enough for her without having to worry about her mother trail her the whole time.

They had just been talking about their relationship before the little old woman had come in looking for parts to repair her broom. Landen wanted to come out about their relationship to make things easier on them, but Sophia was insistent on keeping it a secret. She knew that her mother wouldn't approve of her seeing anyone as long as she was in school. As long as she lived at Hogwarts, she knew that her mother could ban her from having contact with anyone outside of its walls.

On top of that, she knew her mother was terrified that if Sophia dated a boy then she might start having sex. Hermione had never come out and said that blatantly but it was made clear through her allusions and suggestions.

Clearly, her mom had made mistakes in her past and was scared that Sophia might make the same choices. As much as she loved her, she knew that her mother was a know it all, and if she believed something was best for Sophia then there was no convincing her otherwise. It was easier for her to just keep her relationship a secret until she graduated and would then be able to leave her mother's watchful gaze.

"I'm here because Professor Malfoy wants to buy a broom. Don't be rude."

"Oh," said Sophia shortly as she shifted her weight onto her hip, her body language still ripe with attitude.

"Professor Malfoy, was it?" Landen came around from the counter and shook his hand. "I'm Landen. I work here. What can I help you find?"

As Landen and Draco went over to the showcase wall, Hermione approached her daughter.

"What's going on with you?"

"Nothing Mom. I just thought you were following me is all so I got mad."

"So what if I was? What were you doing that you would need to hide from me? Nothing illegal I hope."

"Merlin, no! I just came in to say hi to Landen. He told me he was working here now when he came to practice. I just thought you were being over-bearing again, is all. Sorry…Plus, I came in here because I need to get new flying gloves. The grips on mine are wearing out."

Hermione looked at her daughter suspiciously and fought the temptation to use legilimens on her. She wanted to be able to trust her only child.

"So, why are you here with Professor Malfoy anyway? Aunt Ginny usually comes on these trips with you."

"Bill had his baby this week. Aunt Ginny went to visit with him so I had to ask Professor Malfoy to step in and help with the trip."

"You know, all of the students think he's pretty cute for a teacher," said Sophia with a teasing smirk.

Hermione flushed and snapped at her daughter. "Don't talk about a teacher like that! It's disrespectful."

"Why not? I'm not in school right now," remarked Sophia. It was a brat-like response and she knew it.

"This is still a school trip! I can send you back up to the grounds if you want to keep being rude. Don't push your luck with me, young lady," warned Hermione, trying to ignore the blush forming in her cheeks.

Sophia knew her mother was bluffing about sending her back and could tell she embarrassed. Served her right for interrupting them.

"It's true," said stated simply, getting the last word in.

Landen took down a WingedHermes Edition 3 for Draco who handled it in his hands like an expensive jewel.

"I don't suppose you let customers test fly these things up and down the street do you?"

Landen laughed. "We used to but then we got sued after a customer flew about the street knocking people over just for fun."

Draco looked up at him with a surprised face and Landen laughed. "Just kidding! That didn't happen. But no, you can't' test it here. That would be dangerous, of course. We do, however, offer 30 day trial period with every purchase. So, if you don't like the feel of the broom, of if it's damaged in anyway within that time period, you can get a full refund and try something else out."

"Sounds great to me. I'll take this one then."

"Wonderful!" Landen beamed as he thought of the commission he'd be receiving from the transaction. It sucked that he was still working, but at least it would be worth his time. "Nice guy you got here," said Landen, speaking directly to Hermione.

She rolled her eyes and bit her tongue as she pretended to be very interested on the selection of bludgers displayed on the wall beside her.

"Professor Malfoy was it?"

"You can call me Draco," he corrected. "You're not a student. You don't have to call me Professor."

In truth, Draco still found the title of Professor to be slightly awkward, but was steadily getting used to it.

"Mr. Malfoy then," insisted Landen as he wrapped up the broom for Draco and began to ring up the total.

"What's that in your hand?" Draco asked Sophia who was still standing near the counter, leaning against it now.

"Quidditch gloves."

"Are you buying them?"

"I was thinking about it," she said as she turned the gloves over in her hand.

"Add those to the total Landen," instructed Draco.

"I don't know if that's appropriate," interrupted Hermione as she turned around and rejoined the conversation.

"Nonsense! Consider it a thank you gift for almost knocking my beater out of the sky the other day. They're all furious with you, the whole Slytherin team. It'll be great motivation for them to practice harder so they can beat you next game. Besides, when Slytherin beats you next game, I want them to earn it and you can't play your best if your hands are slipping off your broom now can you?"

Before Hermione could interject with protest, he handed Landen a handful of galleons, told him to keep the change, and began to walk towards the door.

"Thanks professor Malfoy!" Sophia called out. "Mom, he's so much cooler than you. You really should be taking notes."

"Watch it." Hermione shot her daughter a dagger like glare before following Draco out the door.

Sophia laughed and went back to talking to Landen. Pushing herself back up onto the counter the moment her mother exited the store.

"You didn't have to do that. I gave Sophia her own money," said Hermione when she had caught up with him.

"I know that I didn't have to, but I wanted to. She played well and she deserves them."

"You shouldn't show the students favoritism."

"Who said she's my favorite?" said Draco with a playful smile.

Hermione looked down at the pavement and tried to ignore that dashing smile that caused his grey eyes to twinkle in the sunlight. He knew how charming he could be and she was determined to not let it affect her.

"Let me buy you a butterbeer," offered Draco.

"That's not necessary," refused Hermione.

"Of course it's not necessary," he argued, "but it's hot out, no one is causing trouble right now, there aren't any student emergencies, and I'm thirsty. So c'mon. Just one. I promise it won't hurt."

Hermione looked up at him suspiciously. "Just one then…and I'm buying my own," she insisted.

"That's fair I guess."

They made their way to the three broomsticks where Draco beat Hermione to the counter and purchased two butterbeers from the barkeep before she could argue with him.

They found two seats out on the patio and sat down. As they did, Hermione reached into her pocket, pulled out some change and pride-fully slid it towards Draco with a stern expression on her face. "I don't need you to buy me anything."

Draco was tempted to argue with her and give the money back, but decided it was to leave it alone and slipped the coins into his pants pocket.

"That kid was at the quidditch game wasn't he?" Draco asked, trying to start up a conversation that might put her in a better mood.

"Landen?"

"Yeah, the kid at the shop. I thought I recognized him."

"Yes, he was there with his father."

"Who's his father?"

Hermione pursed her lips and she nostrils flared in annoyance, causing her to look like she had a foul smell stuck under her nose.

"Ron Weasley," she answered, then immediately washed down the taste of his name with a large gulp of her butterbeer.

"Ouch," said Draco, noticing her cold and negative response. "Thought you two were mates again?"

"We're not." Hermione hadn't meant to admit that to Draco, but it had just slipped out. "I mean, we are…kind of. We have a history I guess…"

"I know," Draco reminded her. She seemed to forget that Draco still knew a lot about her, even after all that time.

"Oh…right. You do know, I suppose…about the engagement we had?" It was a good cover-up for the real reason she now despised Ron Weasley.

"Yeah, you told me about how he ditched you for that floosy. Last time you talked to me about him you guys were trying to talk as friends," he reminded her.

"Yeah we were…anyway, we're civil now," she stated simply.

"Ah, well, I always thought he was a bit of a git," said Draco honestly. He thought for a moment he caught Hermione smile at this, but he couldn't be sure.

"His son is best friends with my daughter," she explained. "They grew up together…not that it's any of your business or anything…"

Hermione was trying really hard to act like she didn't want to be sitting there talking with Draco but he could see right through it. He knew she would never admit it, but he could tell that she enjoying herself, at least on a small scale.

"Right, it's not, I guess. I was just curious and trying to start conversation is all."

"I suppose…" Hermione fiddled with the lip of her glass for a moment as a silence settled in between them.

Draco tipped his bottle back and finished of the last of his butterbeer then wiped his mouth off on the back of his head.

For a second, Hermione caught herself accidently staring at him. She quickly shook her head, her curls bouncing against her shoulders, then broke the silence between then. "So, Harry told me that you're still in contact with your parents?"

"Merlin, did he tell you everything about our meeting? I thought I was entitled to some kind of confidentiality?" teased Draco.

"Not really. He basically told me everything. I am your employer after all."

"I guess you are."

Hermione didn't know what he meant by that.

"…and yeah. I visited them shortly after I got back. I still owl my mother regularly."

"Hmm," Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her chair at hearing this. She had never cared for Narcissa or Lucius Malfoy, even before they were exposed as death eaters. "So, how are they?"

"Well, my mother is doing okay. She's still her usual manipulative, elitist, skiving self, but she's always been like that and I don't expect her to change." Draco didn't say this in a mean way, but was simply being honest. "My father won't talk to me at all. He hardly acknowledges my existence anymore."

Hermione looked mildly surprised to hear this. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I thought he'd be proud of you for you sentencing."

Draco didn't mean to laugh. "No…no. He's still livid about me protecting you."

"Oh…" Hermione flushed again and stared down at her shoes. She had almost forgotten about the necklace Lucius had sent her with the intention of killing her. It had been so long that she had almost forgotten how Draco had recognized it, protected her from it, and then confronted his father about his attempted attack on her.

"You never did tell me what you did to him."

Draco shrugged and said, "I just taught him a lesson…that he can't harm the people I care about."

Hermione didn't dare look at him as he said this. She could feel the intensity of his eyes baring into her.

"I don't think I ever thanked you for that," she muttered, still looking at the floor as she began to shift uncomfortably. It started to feel even hotter outside and she soon found that she needed another butterbeer.

A dormant part of her began to rap at the back of her head, tempting her to go order a firewhiskey to settle the feelings that were trying to come up within her, but she wouldn't dare indulge it.

"You never needed to thank me. I don't care what my father does, or what he thinks. I don't need someone in my life who would hate you just for your blood status. I don't think that way anymore and I haven't in a long time because of you. If I could back in time, I would do it all over again."

She wasn't sure what he meant by that. He would confront his father all over again or he would be with her all over again? She got the impression that he had been purposely vague and had meant both.

As if Hermione hadn't been feeling uncomfortable enough, Draco had to add to it. "I have to tell you Hermione, I assumed that I'd find you married to some amazing wizard when I got out. I don't really understand how someone didn't step in and swoop you up by now. I know that I have no idea what happened to you when I was gone, or what took place in your life, but if you're alone right now then I can't help but think that some wizard fucked up his chance with you. If that's true than he's an idiot forever letting you go."

He was hoping to get some kind of idea of who Sophia's father might be by getting her to talk about any past relationship she might have had when he was gone. It was a slim chance that he'd get her to talk about it but he had to try something.

As he half-expected, Hermione shot out of her chair indignantly as if he had just gravely offended her. Her face was turned away so that he couldn't read the complicated expression on her face. "It's not that simple…and I've told you already not to call me by my first name! It's improper of you."

Draco stood up as well and immediately apologized. "I'm sorry. Really I am. I didn't mean to upset you. My curiosity got the best of me I guess and I guess I just forgot about titles."

Hermione took a deep breath and held herself together. "Fine. Just remember from now on, alright?"

"I will. Promise." Draco tried his best to get a look into her eyes to see what was going on behind those deep chocolate eyes but she refused to make contact with him.

"We should start heading back to the thestrals. The students will be gathering soon to go back up to the school."

"Right then." Draco took the money out of his pocket that Hermione had given him and left it on the table as a tip when she wasn't looking, then followed her back up the street in silence.

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A/N: I really want to take a nap.

That is all.


	14. Circles of Grey

_You hit me once, I hit you back. You gave a kick, I gave a slap. You smashed a plate over my head, then I set fire to our bed…A kick in the teeth is good for some, a kiss with a fist is better than none…_

_Florence and the Machine_

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Draco was in a good mood that day for no particular reason. It was possible that with his afternoon in Hogsmeade with Hermione the day before had something to do with it, but that wasn't necessarily the reason.

For each of his classes that day, he held a potion making contest. 100 house points would be awarded to the house of whichever student produced the best potion assigned to their class. So far that day, he had been an incredibly popular teacher. All of his student had been putting in their best efforts the entire day.

He was still writing on the board when his seventh year class made their way in and settled into their potion making stations.

"Pepperup Potions!" He announced once the final bell rang to signal the beginning of class. "At some point I'm sure all of you have needed one before? Today we're going to make it and whichever student makes the potion of the highest quality will win their house 100 points!"

The students immediately began to talk to one other, instantly excited about the prize. Draco thought himself particularly clever for thinking of it.

"I know that this potion isn't the most difficult, at least not for students of your level, so I'm going to give you a time limit. You will only have an hour to finish it."

There were a few frustrated groans from students who had previously thought they'd had a chance at winning the prize but were not so hopeful.

"After the hour is up I will access your final work, announce the winner and then you can consider the class dismissed! I won't make you stay for the second hour. In that way, you all win, right?"

There were a few cheers of approval at this announcement.

"Alright then, there's no need to get up, and don't touch anything until I give the word." Draco made a grand gesture with his wand and all of the necessary supplies appeared at the student's stations.

"You may begin!"

The students set off in a hurry, and the sound of students grinding bicorn horn quickly filled the room.

Draco passed by the stations, watching all of the students at work. He could tell that his presence made a few of the students nervous.

Curiously, a couple of the girls began to giggle ridiculously as he made his way by them. He had heard rumors that he was now considered the 'hot professor' amongst many of the students. He didn't quite know what to make of this. It was a flattering, yet slightly creepy, title coming from underage witches who were also his students. He had heard of this happening before. In his school days, many of the Slytherin girls had formed crushes on their potion's master Severus Snape. Draco had never found him a particularly attractive man, but apparently his mysterious and brooding ways made him attractive to hormone raging adolescents. He didn't understand it and decided that he didn't need to.

"Professor, I burnt my mandrake root. Can I get some more?" asked Terrance Davenport, the Slytherin Keeper, as he raised his hand in the air.

"Sure, go ahead. You know where it is?"

"Umm…No, not sure."

"It's in the third top cupboard in the back right corner. Be careful not to knock anything over."

Terrance pushed his chair back and made his way to the front of the room to retrieve the mandrake root. On his way over to the cupboard, he decided to take a detour past Sophia's station.

Sophia watched him with suspicious eyes. It was no secret that the entire Slytherin Quidditch team was livid with her. They were convinced that if she hadn't wrecked Joshua's broom that they would have stood a chance at winning the game. This was furthest from the truth, but they all preferred to blame her than blame each other for the way they had played.

Sophia was right to be suspicious. Terrance glared back at her and as he passed by her and gave her work table a hard shove with his hip so that her cauldron knocked over and toppled on the ground, spilling the potion all over her front as it cascaded down.

"Whoops," said Terrance sarcastically with a smug look on his face.

Everyone turned to watch the scene. Draco was about to intervene the situation when it escalated before he was able to make his way over.

He had expected Sophia to cry, or to draw out her own wand and threaten Terrance for what he'd done. Instead, she drew her fist back and punched in square in the middle of his face, smashing her knuckles into his large nose. As her fist made contact, it made a loud cracking noise that made quite a few people in the room feel queasy.

Terrance grabbed his face and howled in pain as blood started to pour down from his nose. "You bitch!" he cried out as he made for his wand but was unable to do anything as Draco had his wand out first.

"Expelliarmus!"

Terrance's wand flew of out of his hand and landed on the other side of the room.

"I saw what you did, and if you hit her back you're going to have to worry about more than just detention Mr. Davenport," warned Draco with his wand pointed directly between Davenport's eyes.

"She punched me in the face professor! I didn't even do anything!" He protested.

"I saw what happened Davenport. You provoked her by knocking her potion over so that it spilled all over her robes. You're lucky we're only brewing pepperup potions or you could have severely injured someone. It was a stupid thing for you to do."

"But we wasn't brewin anything dangerous! I knew it wouldn't hurt her."

"Let's hope that's true. Regardless, I want you in detention tonight scrubbing cauldrons at eight. Prepare to say until midnight at the earliest. Now get out of my face and take yourself to the hospital wing. You just lost Slytherin house 100 points. Congratulations, you've earned it."

The Slytherins in the room groaned in protest, glaring at an infuriated Terrance through his humiliating walk of shame out the door.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked Sophia. With a flick of his wand the potion was siphoned off of her robes until they were spotlessly clean once more.

"Yeah, I'm better than that idiot at least."

"You have to know that you can't just punch students in the face in the middle of my class."

"Yeah, I know that, but he deserved it," said Sophia with an attitude. She was irritated at Draco, but she felt embarrassed that the entire class was watching him scold her.

"I want you to come by my office after final period and we'll talk about your punishment then."

Sophia opened her mouth like she was about to argue with him, defiant attitude sketched all across her face, but before she could protest he interrupted her.

"Don't argue with me or you'll make things worse for yourself. Just come by my office later and we'll talk."

Sophia clamped her mouth shut and started to sulk back to her station in frustration.

"Don't worry about starting over. You can excuse yourself as well."

"Fine," she spat and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

/

It was about twenty minutes after the final bell sounded that Sophia appeared and let herself into Draco's office.

"Professor Malfoy?" she inquired as she peeked her head around the door.

"Come in Sophia and have a seat."

She did as she was told, hanging her head as she waited for Draco's lecture and punishment.

"You broke Davenport's nose." Draco said matter-of-factly.

Sophia hung her head even lower so that it was difficult for Draco to gauge her reaction. "Did you already tell my mother?" was all ask asked.

"No, I haven't. Not yet. She receives record of all detentions though, along with the reason they were acquired."

Sophia looked like she was kicking herself on the inside as she clamped her eyes shut in anger. When she opened them they were glossed with tears. There was something in her eyes that caught Draco's attention but he couldn't place it as she began to beg.

"Professor, please don't tell her, alight? Please! I'll stay late after class for a week and clean cauldrons as long as you just don't tell her what I did. Whatever you want, just name it."

"Look Sophia, I'm sure she'll understand. Your mother got herself into enough trouble in her day too…even if she was hardly ever caught for it," said Draco with a hint of bitterness.

She shook her head furiously. "No, she won't understand. You don't understand. You don't know my mother..."

Well that wasn't at all true…but Draco bit his tongue and decided not to argue back with her. It would have been inappropriate to tell her of all the ways he knew her mother. He knew Hermione better than most people, in fact.

"She's not going to be understanding! She holds me to a higher standard than all the other students because I'm her kid! If she finds out that I hit another student, I promise you, she'll take me off of the quidditch team! If she doesn't let me play I don't know what I'll do! Quidditch is my life and I can't lose it! Plus, it's my last year. Please don't ruin this for me!"

"Why didn't you think about that before decided to sock Davenport in the face? I didn't ruin anything for you. You did this to yourself."

"I wasn't thinking! He just made me so mad! Did you even see my potion before he tossed it? I would have won! Seriously!" she exclaimed. It was a pretty confidant remark for her to make but, it wasn't necessarily untrue. Draco had seen her potion in progress and it was in the top five of the class.

"Still, don't you think you could have handled the situation better than you did?"

"Yeah, I could have use my wand! He's lucky I hit him instead or I'd probably be getting expelled right now."

Draco gave her a look that said 'C'mon, really?'

"I'm trying to help you here, Sophia. I can't just let you off scot-free. You get that, don't you? I need you to understand that what you did was wrong. Believe me, I understand why you hit him but you can't just act like that in the middle of a class, especially not in front of a professor."

"So you're saying I should have just cornered him in a dark hallway instead and hexed his face off when no one was looking?"

Draco wasn't able to help the amused smirk that popped up on his face. "I'm not saying anything of the sort," he managed to force out through his impulse to laugh.

Sophia had caught on anyway and couldn't help but laugh a little as well. It didn't last long though before her face regained its worried expression as she dreaded the prospect of losing her position on the quidditch team if her mother found out what she'd done.

"Look, I can tell you really love quidditch. You're a brilliant player and I wish you were a Slytherin."

Sophia let herself smile at this, and as she did she looked so much like her mother that it made him soft. He couldn't help it.

"I can also understand why it means so much to you. I relate to it because I felt the same way when I was in your position. So, if giving you detention is going to risk that opportunity for you then I suppose I can let you off this time."

Sophia lit up and sat up straighter as she listened to him continue.

"But only this once!" He emphasized. "Your mother made it very clear to me that I can't have favorites amongst my students, so that means no special privileges! If you want to get even with Davenport then do it on the Quidditch field. My classroom is not a dueling arena. You got that?"

"I understand Profess and I promise I'll never do anything like that again. I swear!"

"Alright then…and don't tell any of the other students I let you off either! If anyone asks you, I made you hold onto a giant spiders for a minimum of three hours, alright?"

Sophia shuddered at the thought. "You'd never do that to a student right?"

"Don't test me," he teased with a wink.

Sophia smiled, again reminding Draco immensely of her mother. Then she did something he wasn't expecting.

She got up, went over to his side of the desk, and hugged him.

It caught him off guard, his breath hitched, and he froze.

With the exception of his mother, it was the first true embrace he'd received in the last eighteen years. The gift of human contact was so overwhelming that he nearly forgot it would be rude of him to not return the gesture. He wrapped his arms around Sophia and gave her a light squeeze in return.

She pulled back and thanked him again. "Thank you so much professor. You're the best! You really are!"

She was so close to him now that he could finally see what had caught his attention before.

It was her something in her eyes. They were deep pools of brown, swirling with a mysterious depth that any soul could get lost in. They were so like Hermione's that it gave him the chills with the exception of one thing.

It was faint to see at first, but once it was noticed it became incredibly apparent that it was there. On the rim of her irises were light grey rings that affectionately circled the brown of her eyes.

Draco couldn't be sure a hundred percent sure, but he was fairly certain that he'd never met a grey eyed Weasley.

It was in that moment that he dared to wonder if it was possible she had inherited that grey spark in her eyes from someone else…

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A/N: The weekend went by way too fast! Wah! I don't want to go to classes tomorrow. I just want to sit around editing fanfiction. Anyway, thanks for the incredible reviews. Can't believe its hit over 200 already! Thank you so much! It really means a lot to me to hear back from readers. Honestly, it makes me want to update more often because I know there are people out there waiting for the next chapter! Keep on motivating me with your reviews! I need some inspiration to get these next eight chapters edited that I have written.


	15. Can't Hold It In Forever

_I'm gonna break things. I'm gonna cross the line, and make you wake up 'cause you won't. I'm gonna name names. I'm gonna call us out. I'm gonna say it if you won't…Oh, I don't wanna fight, but I'll fight with you if I have to. Do I love you? Oh, I do, and I'm going to 'til I'm gone. But if you think that I can stay in this same old, same old…Well, I don't… I don't…_

_The Civil Wars_

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Draco was surprised to see Hermione approach him during breakfast the next morning. She was still munching on a piece of toast as she walked over to him.

"Morning professor."

"Morning," he greeted back to her. All he could see when he looked at her was Sophia, and the thought of Sophia only caused him to wonder…

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you." Hermione picked up on a change in Draco's demeanor but couldn't place what it was exactly.

"No, you're not. I was just finished," said Draco as he pushed his plate back. "What can I help you with Headmistress?"

Hermione pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. "I received report yesterday that Terrence Davenport was sent to the hospital wing during one of your classes and that he received a detention from you."

"That's right," he affirmed with a nod of his head.

"It's just that the report wasn't entirely clear on what happened…and I've heard a couple unsettling rumors about my daughter being involved in the incident. I was hoping that you could clarify things by telling me exactly what happened in your classroom yesterday?"

"What was it that you heard?"

Hermione gave a nervous laugh as she admitted the rumor she had heard circulating through the school. "That my daughter physically assaulted another student. I can't even fathom the possibility of that being true, but even so…I wanted to assure myself on what really happened."

Draco had an excellent poker face. "That's not what happened. I gave the class a potions assignment and while they were working Terrance decided to do that to himself as he was walking past your daughter to get to the supply closet. Then he pushed her potion so that it spilled onto her robes and then tried to blame her for his injury."

Hermione seemed to deflate with a sense of relief at hearing this.

"It's no secret that the Slytherin quidditch team is still angry with your daughter over the last game."

"Well, I do understand why. My daughter does have a tendency for aggression on the quidditch pitch. I can tolerate that to a point because it's the nature of the sport, but she knows that I won't tolerate violence of any kind in my school. Her last stunt landed her detention with me already. She's lucky she didn't seriously injure Mr. Karver instead of his broom during their last game."

"You never really cared for quidditch did you?"

"No, never. All the more reason why Sophia loves it so passionately. Although I do have a soft spot for Gryffindor victories. I enjoy the opportunity to show pride for my house as I'm sure you understand."

"Well, you don't have to worry about Sophia. She didn't do anything wrong, but you are right about her having a temper once she gets a broom in her hand."

"That she does," said Hermione as she pushed her chair back and stood up. "Thank you for clarifying that incident professor. I really do appreciate it."

"It was no problem at all."

Hermione was about to leave when a thought occurred to her. "Oh, I almost forgot! Are you available after dinner tonight or do you have detentions to supervise?"

"My schedule is clear as far as I know."

"Excellent. Would you be willing to meet me in my office so we can go over your review? I meant to do it before the Hogsmeade trip but my schedule got a bit out of hand and my agenda fell behind."

"I'll be there."

"Great. See you tonight then Professor Malfoy."

/

Draco spent the entire day thinking about Hermione and Sophia. Tormenting himself with questions, wondering if it was possible that Sophia could be his and if Hermione had kept him from knowing.

He wanted to ask her for the truth just as much as he wanted to shake her out the protection of her professional shell; force her to deal with their past and face him. Really face him, who they were and what they had meant to each other.

At the same time, Draco wanted to keep his job and keep on a low radar for the duration of his probation.

Hermione had the door open, waiting for him, so he invited himself into her office without waiting for her invitation.

"Thanks for meeting with me. This won't take long, have a seat."

The expression on Draco's face was so serious that it almost shook her out of her pleasant mood. There was something brewing in his eyes that made her nervous and reminded her of the old Draco from her Hogwarts days. The Draco that sneered and looked down on others with a condescending air. She'd had come accustomed to seeing him broken, and performing at a fraction of his true character. It wasn't until that moment that she realized the man she had always known was still in there.

She shut away her feelings for the time being, and turned her focus to the review in front of her.

"I was pleased with what I saw in your classroom, especially the way you handled the emergency of two fainted students. In addition to your professionalism and ability to act coolly under pressure, you show an expertise for the subject and it definitely shows in the examples you give your students. Also, you've managed your house exceedingly well for only having the head of house position for a short amount of time. In truth, I don't have many critiques for you. Just a couple of minor points…"

Hermione went through her notes thoroughly; going over what she observed, areas of improvements and commented on a few more places where he was excelling. The whole process that took less than thirty minutes. When she had finished going through what she had written down, she asked Draco if he had any questions for her or anything he'd care to discuss.

He couldn't help himself. He couldn't hold it in.

"You know your daughter is so much like you," said Draco, keeping his expression as neutral as possible. He didn't want to scare her away from the topic.

"Yes, I hear that all the time. I don't know if she would agree with that though," she agreed with a laugh.

"Well it's true. She looks so much like you and I can really see a lot of you in her. She's a great student, one of the best in all my classes actually."

"Thank for you saying so professor, but this isn't a parent-teacher conference. You don't need to give me a progress report on the academic performance of my daughter," remarked Hermione with a nervous laugh this time.

Draco ignored the fact the he was making her uncomfortable and pushed on with his point.

"She's seventeen right?"

Hermione was taken aback by this line of questions and didn't answer it. "I don't see what that has to do with anything…"

Draco answered his own question with an assumption. "Most seventh years are seventeen. So, that means she was born during the first year of my incarceration at Azkaban."

Hermione looked as though she had been slapped across the face. "What are getting at Professor?"

"Please, just for once, can we drop this professor act?" snapped Draco. "I know you don't want to face the fact that we have a history but it's the truth. I'm not stupid Hermione. We were lovers all the way up to my arrest. That means that-"

She stopped him before he was able to continue. "Don't you dare," she gritted through gnarled teeth as she slammed her hands forcibly onto the desk. "Don't you dare presume to know what I did with my life after you left!"

"Well, unless you were sleeping around with Weasley, or Merlin knows who, then that means there's a real possibility that she's-"

She cut him off again before he could make his point. Her eyes were enflamed with rage and her voice had raised to an agitated shout. "Maybe I did sleep around with Merlin knows who Draco! What does that matter to you?!"

If it weren't for the fact that she was screaming at him, he would have been happy that she'd actually called him by his first name.

"It's none of your fucking business what I did, or who I slept with after you went away! You left! You broke my heart and you abandoned me, so you don't have the right to ask me questions!"

"I didn't abandon you! I would never have just left you if I had a choice, and you know that. I was taken to Azkaban!" he protested at a volume that matched the livid woman before him.

"Whose fault is that?! I sure as hell didn't put you there! In case you forgot, I'm the one who tried to keep you out! I invested in you! I put my neck on the line to get you redemption and what do you do? You threw it back in my face and got locked up anyway! I wake up every day second-guessing my decisions and wishing that I would have just let them take you away the first time you fucked up."

"I understand why you're angry. I really do, and you have every right to be upset. I just wish you would talk to me about it instead of acting like nothing ever happened! I'm here now. You can talk to me about these things!"

"I don't want to talk to you about anything!" she screamed.

"Well clearly you need to talk to someone. I don't know how you've been walking around pretending that you have the ability to feel indifferent towards me. You just holding everything inside like that, it's crazy…I know what we had and I know that you loved me as much as I loved you and that doesn't just go away."

"How could I love you?" She asked in a low tone with a hint of disgust in her voice.

The words cut through him like the cruciatus curse.

"When we were reunited after school, you were drunk and trying to get a muggle girl to walk off the edge of a building, or don't you remember? I almost witnessed you murder someone Draco! Then for some stupid reason, I actually believed I could save you. I was an idiot. Back then, I thought I could save a lot of people and it turns out I was wrong! I did my best to help you and you proved to me just how terrible wizards can really be! You made me regret my entire life's work up to that point. You almost destroyed me so how could I love you?"

Draco couldn't reply to this, he could barely speak. He didn't want to think that she might actually believed the things she was saying, but her tone was so cold and her eyes were so cruel that it made him feel sorry for her.

"…Then you pop into my life again and what choice do I have but to make the best of the situation? I have been trying to be civil towards you, I really have, and I have been trying to a find a way to allow you to fit into my life as a colleague. You can't expect me to do more than that, but if you want to snoop around asking questions about my past then I will do everything in my power to expel you from my life! You can't walk around here digging up the past and opening up old wounds. You don't have the right!"

They were both standing at this point, eye baring into with another with suppressed intensity. The tension in the room felt near ready to explode between then.

Hermione was shaking with sorrow and fury. "You broke my heart Draco…We can't just come back from that. After you left…or were taken away, whatever…I had to live for years with a gaping hole in my heart. Do you know what that's like?"

Angry tears were pooling in Hermione's eyes but she didn't dare let them fall. Not in front of him…

"I can fill that hole if you'd let me." Draco's voice was now soft and calm in contrast to Hermione's. He was in shock at how quickly this conversation had escalated, but knew it had been bound to happen eventually. She couldn't ignore him forever. The tension between them had been wound too tightly from the second he had set foot from his Azkaban cell and looked up her for the first time in eighteen years.

"No…you can't fill it because I already did it for myself, and I don't need you for anything. I won't ever need you again." She sounded like she was convincing herself more than anything.

"Love isn't just about need…"

"I don't care to hear what you have to say and I think you should leave now," instructed Hermione as she pointed towards the door.

"Hermione…"

"Go! Now! I want you out of my office now or I'm going to start reconsidering your employment here Professor Malfoy."

Draco didn't wait to see if she was bluffing. "Fine, I'll go, but you know exactly where to find me if you decide you want to talk. You can't keep your feelings in forever. Eventually the past catches up with us all. I know that better than anyone."

With the final word in, Draco let himself out and returned to his room.

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A/N: Ohmagerd...two updates within a 24 hour period?! It's insanity! It's madness! It's because my readers are fucking awesome and your reviews made my day so I felt extra motivated to edit a chapter. I love writing. It's editing that's the tedious part and, as you all know, I miss things lol I try! I don't have the patience to work with a beta and if I did you would get slower updates so a couple spelling errors are worth it to me. Don't you think?

Thanks for the feedback!


	16. The Dementor and The Patronus

_Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner. Sometimes I feel like my only friend…It's hard to believe that there's nobody out there. It's hard to believe that I'm all alone…I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day; take me to the place I love, take me all the way…_

_Red Hot Chili Peppers _

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_(Flashback: Spring at the burrow. Sophia is 6 years old. Landen is 7 years old.)_

"_Landen, slow down! I can't run as fast as you!" Sophia's little legs were sprinting down the grassy hill, as fast as they could carry her, as she sped after her only friend. _

"_Better learn how to run, slowpoke!" Landen teased at her as he continued running towards the brook._

"_I'm not a slowpoke! I'm just smaller than you!"_

"_That's for sure! Squirt!"_

"_You take that back! You just wait til I catch you!"_

"_If you ever catch me!" Landen's giggles resounded across the hill and seemed to bounce off of the thick blades of grass that tickled their feet as they ran through them. _

_By the time Sophia made it down to the water's edge, Landen was already hiding behind a particularly tall patch of grass with his heart pounding. He stayed there and watched her looking around like a tiger stalking its prey. _

"_Where'd you go? I know you're down here! You already showed me that this is your secret spot. I know this is it!" Sophia placed her hands on her hips and looked around impatiently for him to appear._

"_Bahh! I'm a dementor! Run!" Landen jumped out at her with his arms stretched out to catch her. Sophia screamed as she ran back up the hill they had just come from and Landen continued to chase her._

"_I have a patnos! Better not let me touch you!" exclaimed Sophia as she picked up a stick and pretended to wave it like a wand. She had meant to say patronus but could never remember how to say the word correctly._

"_Don't you touch me!" shouted Landed in mock fright as he switched directions and skirted back down towards the water._

_Once again he beat her there, but this time he let her catch him on purpose._

"_Expecto Pacto!" cried Sophia with a swish of her stick and an exuberant cry, unaware that the real words to the spell were expecto patronum._

_Landen clutched onto his chest, rolled down dramatically into the grass, and pretended to die. "You got me! I'm done for!" he gagged and lolled out his tongue for dramatic effect._

_They both broke out in laughter._

"_That was so much fun!" Sophia threw herself down onto a bed of grass, lying beside Landen, and began picking at the wildflowers surrounding them. _

"_I wish you could play with me all the time," said Landen as he rolled over onto his stomach._

"_Yeah, me too. I wish we could live together. That would be so great."_

"_Maybe we could live here with Grandma and Grandpa Weasley?" Landed suggested._

"_Yeah! I bet they would let us. We should ask Grandpa. He always says yes to everything."_

"_Good idea," he agreed._

_Sophia fiddled with the purple flower in her hand; plucking the petals off of it, then tying its stem into a series of knots. "Landen, can I asked you a question?"_

"_Course you can Sophie."_

"_How did Uncle Ron become your daddy?" She plucked another flower from the ground and began to kill it in a similar manner as the last one._

"_What do you mean?" He was confused by this question._

"_Uncle Ron. How come he's your dad?" she repeated herself._

_Landen shrugged. "I dunno…cause he's always been my dad. What about your dad?"_

_Sophia bit down on her bottom lip, embarrassed, and stared at the dirt beneath her. "I dunno…"_

"_My mom and dad have always been my parents…since I was born I guess. I dunno why. That's just how it is, I suppose. They chose to be the bosses of me, and so I gotta be their kid."_

"_Maybe no one wanted to be my dad so no one chose me." There was a slight quiver in her voice, but she didn't cry._

"_Maybe…" Landen didn't know what to say to that. "But hey, you still have your mom and she's pretty cool."_

"_She's bossy…," said Sophia with a pouted lip._

"_I think she can be kinda cool sometimes. My dad always talks about how smart your mom is and says that she can do a lot of stuff."_

"_Yeah, but your dad is better and he's funny. He's always playing games with us and stuff."_

"_Well…" Landen tried to think of a solution to Sophia's problem. "If you want, I guess we can share my dad?"_

_Sophia lit up. "Do you mean it? I think it'd be cool to have Uncle Ron as a daddy!"_

"_Yeah. I don't think he'd care. I'm pretty sure he likes you just as much as he likes me anyway."_

"_Cool! Will you ask him for me?"_

"_Sure! As soon as my mom comes to takes me home, I'll ask and I'll let you know; but I'm pretty sure he's going to say yes so you can just let him be your dad now if you want to!"_

"_Awesome!"_

_/_

_Hermione welcomed herself through the front door of the Burrow. It had always been like a second home for her. _

"_Hello dear," welcomed Mrs. Weasley as she looked up from dusting decorate figurines around the living room. "How were classes for you today? Everything alright at Hogwarts these days?"_

"_Today was great. Everything went smoothly for once. Thanks for asking," answered Hermione with a smile. She was still in the early years of her career at Hogwarts and although McGonagall had given her living quarters within the halls of the castle, she still had to find adequate babysitters to watch her daughter during the day. Sometimes another teacher would watch her at the school if Harry, Ginny or Mrs. Weasley weren't available, but Sophia's favorite place to go, by far, was the Burrow. _

_Even though Hogwarts had a lot of things to do, there weren't any other kids who were her age that she could play with. When she was especially lonely she would spend time with the house elves and they would entertain her with stories and jokes. It broke Hermione's heart at times so she did her best to bring her to the burrow whenever possible, even though there was the chance she could run into Ron. _

_Landen was frequently at the burrow being watched by his grandparents, who allowed Sophia to address them as Grandpa and Grandma Weasley. Ron worked most days and Janessa supposedly ran enough errands to justify having someone else watching her kid. Why Janessa ever really needed a babysitter was beyond Hermione. The woman didn't work, but it wasn't any of her business to inquire. Besides, it was nice that Sophia had at least one friend and if Janessa hadn't been so lazy, Landen wouldn't be available for her to play with._

"_Glad to hear it. Landen and Sophia were just playing out in the back field. I'll call for them now."_

"_No rush Molly." _

_Molly opened the back door and called out for the kids who came running towards the house, beckoned by her call._

"_What's that in your hand?" she asked Sophia who had something bunched up in her first._

"_Oh, just a bunch of dead flowers." Sophia dropped the handful of tied flower stems onto the ground and wiped the dirt on her hands onto her shirt to her grandmother's dismay._

_Molly sighed, "We don't wipe dirt on our clothes dear. We wash our hands."_

"_Sorry," said Sophia looking down at her toes shamefully._

"_It's alright Love. Your mother is going to think I don't watch you if you go in there filthy like this though." With a simple flick of her wand the dirt vanished from her shirt._

"_Thanks Grandma Weasley."_

"_You're welcome. Now get inside. Your mother is here."_

_Sophia was the first to run inside with Landen close behind her._

"_Mommy!"_

"_Hi Ms. G!"_

_Hermione scooped her daughter up into her arms and greeted her with a multitude of cheek kisses. "Hello sunshine! Hi Landen. How was your day baby?"_

"_Awesome!" Sophia exclaimed with a toothy grin._

"_Is that so? What'd you do?"_

"_Grandma Weasley made us cookies for breakfast."_

_Hermione flashed a quick glance at Molly who looked slightly guilty as she began rearranging the figurines she had just cleaned._

"_They were so good. It was awesome!" chimed in Landen. "We had chocolate chip and peanut butter chip!"_

"_Is that right? So you both just ate cookies all day? That sounds too good to be true."_

"_No, that's not all we did. We uh…" Sophia looked down to Landen for helping remembering what they had done that day._

"_Then uh…um, then we were helping grandma in the garden!" remembered Landen._

"_Yeah! And then we had to stop because grandpa needed us."_

"_Yeah, he wanted us to help him with his muggle watches because we have small hands and we can reach things he cant." Landen lifted up his hands, which were full of dirt, to show off to Hermione. Sophia mimicked this motion, her hands were also still full of dirt. Molly had successfully siphoned all the dirt off of her clothes but had failed to check her hands._

"_Why are your hands so dirty?" Hermione set her daughter down and pulled her out her wand. "Give me your hands." Landen and Sophia held their hands out, palms up, as Hermione cleaned them off with a quick spell._

"_We were playing dements and patrons," explained Sophia proudly._

"_Dementors and Patronus you mean?" she clarified._

"_Yup. That one."_

"_And which one where you?"_

"_The patronus of course! She's always the goody-goody. She never wants to play the bad guy," teased Landen._

"_Really?"_

"_Yup. Landen is always the bad guy because he's a boy and boys are stupid."_

"_Hey!" protested Landen._

"_Boys aren't all bad," corrected Hermione._

"_I wouldn't be so sure Mom," said Sophia with a mixed look of concern and determination._

_Hermione chuckled and smiled at the two kids standing adorably before her. "Are you ready to go then? Do you have any messes you need to clean up before we go?"_

"_No, but mom can we stay until Landen's mom or dad get here?"_

"_Why is that?"_

_Hermione made a point of arriving to the burrow before Landen's parents. It was always an awkward situation to be there at the same time as Ron or Janessa. _

_Once a year, they all celebrated Christmas at the burrow; along with the entire Weasley family; and that was enough for her. Unless she was forced into it, she preferred to limit her contact with Ron's family. Her only exception was his son Landen who was, thankfully, almost nothing like his father aside from a few scattered freckles and a goofy nose._

"_We wanted to ask Uncle Ron if he would be my daddy, "announced Sophia with pride, to the horror of her mother._

_Hermione chocked on her own breath. Even Molly turned around and started to pay close attention to what was being said._

"_What? Why on earth would you think to ask that?" Hermione tried to keep her cool. Her daughter was only six and she didn't really know what she was saying. _

"_Because no one wanted to be my daddy, so Landen said I could share his."_

"_Well that's a very sweet gesture Landen," the words were forced, she was trying not to hurt the feelings of a seven year old if she could avoid it "but Sophia doesn't need a daddy."_

"_She wants a daddy though. I don't mind sharing mine with Sophie. I really don't!" Landen tried to assure Ms. G, which was the nickname he had given her when he had first talked talking._

_Hermione tried to pick her words very carefully. She looked up to Molly with a fearful desperation and she nodded encouragingly. "Not everyone has a dad or even a mommy, and that's okay. Not everyone needs to have one. Some people just have one parent. Do you understand? It's not about how many parents you have. It's about having a parent that loves you, and I love Sophia so much that she doesn't need to have a daddy."_

_She reached out to squeeze her daughters hand affectionately but Sophia pulled it away from her, folded her arms and stomped her foot onto the ground. "I think that's stupid!"_

"_Be patient with her Hermione. She doesn't understand," interjected Molly respectfully, trying to aid her without telling her how to parent her own child._

"_Why is that stupid? I love so much and you're so special that you don't need to have a daddy, sweet heart."_

"_But I want one! It's not fair! Landen gets a mom and a dad, plus he has grandma and grandpa and like a million cousins too! All I have is you!"_

_The last sentence hurt a bit and she wasn't able to hide it._

"_You're not Landen, sweet heart. Not everyone has the same kind of family. You have so many people who love you too. Grandma and Grandpa Weasley will always be here for you, and you have Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry too. Landen's cousins are almost like your cousins because their family as has always loved us like their own. What else could you really need? We make our own families."_

"_I know but it's not the same. If I can make my family then I don't get why I can't have a dad."_

"_I'm all that you need sweetheart," repeated Hermione desperately. "That's all you need to know. I'm all you need and you can rely on me. I'll be here for you, forever. Now let's go home."_

_Sophia didn't seemed satisfied with this answer but could tell she wasn't going to get much further with her mother who no longer wanted to talk about the subject._

_With a defeated sigh, Sophia dragged herself up to Mrs. Weasley with sunken shoulders and gave her a goodbye hug. "I'll see you tomorrow Grandma. We should do cookies for breakfast again because that was a good idea. Probably one of your best ever."_

_Mrs. Weasley had a small brim of tears in her eyes but hid it well as she smiled at the young girl and said, "We'll see. We just might, Love."_

_Sophia gave Landen a goodbye hug as well, and whispered into his ear, "Ask for me anyway. My mom doesn't' know everything…even though she thinks she does."_

_Landen nodded his head, assuring her that he would ask anyway, then waved goodbye as she disappeared out the door, walking behind her mother and holding tightly to her hand._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_A/N: I already know what some of you are gonna say "I don't want to read chapters without Draco" "I miss Draco" I don't care about Sophia/Landen" "This chapter was boring/slow"_

_Okie dokie, here's my response to that. "If you know what you want to read then YOU write it. So meh!" _

_To those of you who have been constructive or supportive with your feedback- thank you very much. I appreciate you immensely and am grateful for your opinions and your words. _


	17. The Sinner's Remorse

_I watch your spirit break, as it shatters into a million pieces… I hear that crashing sound as it all falls down… It's never too late to turn it back around…Don't bury your demons deep in the ground…When it all falls down, the only way is up… It's your love that's strong; it's the only thing that keeps me holding on. It's your heart that's weak, but it's not too weak to bring you back to me…_

_James Morrison ft Jessie J_

_._

It was a struggle to ignore the compulsion within her to leave Hogwarts and go down to the Three Broomsticks for a firewhiskey…or six. Hermione was anxiously pacing her living quarters and trying to stay busy; adjusting her belongings, rearranging dishes, clothes, decorations and photographs to keep her mind occupied. It wasn't working very well.

It was obvious that her heart was broken.

The truth was that it had never healed.

When she shut her eyes she could remember, as clearly as if it had occurred yesterday, Draco being dragged away to Azkaban. She could remember the feeling of her spirit drop, the physical feeling of her body collapsing, and the clenching of her stomach as her sorrow transformed into nausea. All of those emotions were compounded with the trauma she had felt after her night with Ron and only served to burn her emotions injuries more severely into her heart and mind.

If she was bitter, she felt she had every right to be.

It had seemed so unreal, even years after the court date, that it had all actually happened. There were nights when Hermione felt so alone that she wished Draco had never come forward with the truth. There were nights when she wished faintly that he had just allowed them to be happy in her ignorance.

Instead, all of her nightmares had become a reality within the span of a year. She had lost her job, her dignity, been victimized by a friend, was held captive by her addiction, disillusioned of her love, and torn from the person she had invested her entire soul in. All of this, while facing the unexpected burden and blessing of motherhood.

Somehow, she had survived her demons and she was still standing. It was a miracle that she was still functioning!

Then he came back into her world and was now threatening to send everything spinning off its axis.

It had taken time, but Hermione had learned to swallow her emotions and bury her feelings towards him years ago. There was just too much to sort through. She still felt an incredible amount of anger intermingled with disappointment. These emotions were constantly conflicting with the few positive feelings she had left in her.

There were too many images swarming through her mind of what had happened that night. and it felt too treacherous to envision herself loving a man who had played a hand in the murder of her parents.

Hermione dragged a framed muggle photograph off of her mantelpiece. It was a homemade frame, decorated by her daughter when she was just ten years old. On the top of it, in Sophia's handwriting, were the words Grandma and Grandpa Granger, sloppily written with two little hearts drawn on the sides.

The happy faces of her parents smiled up at her, frozen in a moment of time and a moment of real happiness. It wasn't a very good picture, it was slightly out of focus and they weren't even centered correctly. Hermione had taken the picture herself as a child on a trip they'd taken to the zoo.

She could remember the excitement of getting it developed, and the anticipation of waiting for it to come out. She could still remember the sense of pride she felt when she held her work in her tiny hands, and her parents encouraged her accomplishment by keeping the photograph proudly pinned to the fridge for an entire year.

Tears fought their way to the front of her eyes and slowly ran down her cheeks. She placed the picture back in its rightful place so that she wouldn't accidently cry on it and cause it to be stained with watermarks.

The pain was surfacing again; a sharp, throbbing ache that seemed to clench onto her heart and squeeze until she felt like she would never be able to breathe again. It was pain like this that she had tried to drink through, and numb her body until it couldn't feel hurt anymore.

Now that she had forsaken the bottle, she was alone with the pain, feeling vulnerable and weak. The feelings were still raw, even after all those years.

"The only way you're going to get past this is if you face this," spoke Hermione aloud as she held her hand over her aching heart.

/

After his last meeting with Hermione, Draco had thought it was best if he stayed secluded in his room as much as possible. If he gave it enough time, it might not be so uncomfortable for him to face her again…eventually.

He had never intended to hurt her like that. True, he wanted to bring up the past, but only because he wanted to work through it. He wanted to be there for her if she still needed to heal. He wanted her to know that if she ever wanted it, his love would always be available for her.

It was difficult for him to comprehend the idea that she truly believed that she didn't love him…at all.

Her words echoed in his ears like a haunting memory, _'How could I love you?'_

Draco tried to hold onto his truth and keep his memories alive within himself. He knew what they had felt, and remembered what they had gone through together.

Hermione had made him a better man, and it was true that he had tainted her in ways. Somewhere along that journey they had met on level ground and fallen in love. A love that was almost indescribable compared to anything in his life that he'd ever felt before.

He wasn't sure what to expect when a rapping noise suddenly emerged at his bedroom door.

Hesitantly, he cracked the door then opened it wide when he saw who it was.

To his surprise, Hermione stood at his doorway, trying to retain some dignity as she held her posture straight up and looked him directly in the eyes. Although she was only able to look into his grey eyes for a moment before she pushed the direction of her eyes down towards the floor.

She had wiped the tears away but Draco could still tell that she had been crying.

"Hermione…What are you doing here?" For a split second he worried that he was about to be fired.

"I want you to tell me what happened," said Hermione in a shaky voice.

"What?" Draco asked, his eyebrow lifted up in confusion.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course you can." Draco moved aside and shut the door behind her. He didn't have much furniture, but he pulled out his desk chair and invited her to sit down on it.

Her leg was shaking up and down nervously, and she was holding onto her center; her eyes averting his as they bounced across the room. "I don't know what else to do. I want to deal with this and…I know don't how else to do it. The pain won't stop and I'm running out of options."

"Deal with what? What do you mean? Talk to me." Draco pleaded carefully as he slowly made his way over to the edge of his bed and sat down across from her.

"My parents. I want to hear it from you…what happened. Tell me everything."

"Hermione…I…I don't know if you really want to hear that. Do you really think it'd be good for you to have those images in your head?"

"Yes, I do, because I think that the images I've put there myself might be worse than the truth and they're destroying me." She tried not to let herself cry again. She needed to keep herself together long enough to get through hearing this.

"I told you everything during the trial…"

She interrupted him. "No. No you didn't. You told the ministry what happened, but you never looked me in the face and told me your story. What I know is a washed down version of a tormenting night. What I have is Blaise's laughter ringing in my head and the idea of my parents suffering mercilessly at his feet as he mocks their suffering!"

She hadn't meant to yell but the pain had just boiled over and spilled out.

Draco fought back the instinct to reach out and comfort her. He knew his touch would not be welcomed right now. It was difficult for him to see her falling apart like this and not be able to wrap her into his arms and hold her until she settled down. Still, he managed to refrain and clasped his hands together between his knees, took in a deep breath and tried to think a place to begin.

"Okay, but only because you're asking me. I would never make you listen to this and if you want me to stop…at any time…just tell me and I'll shut up right then. Okay?"

Hermione nodded her head in understanding and prepared to hear him out.

"I'm not proud of this," began Draco. "I'm not proud of a lot of things I did before I became reacquainted with you, but after the war…"

He had to start over again. It was shaming to admit any of this aloud, especially to the woman sitting in front of him.

"…After the war, Blaise and I developed this…tradition, for lack of a better word. We would go out and find a muggle to torture, hurt, mock, or prank in some kind of dark way. When you and Harry caught us on the roof that night, that's what we were doing. It was our messed up way of celebrating the anniversary. We were bitter that our side lost the war, and we were angry at the entire world. Neither of us wanted to feel weak and we were self-assured that we had the right to interfere with these people's lives just because they were muggles. We thought they were inferior to us."

"You never had that right."

"I know that now. Believe me, I know that. I need you to know that the night we went to your parent's house…it wasn't my idea. You can give me _Veritaserum_ or perform _legilimens_ on me if you want to and you'll see that's the truth! It doesn't make what I did any better but I just want to make sure you know that."

The room felt like it was getting smaller as he continued on. It was as if the walls were closing in around them. It was becoming steadily difficult for him to concentrate as his guilt pushed its way to the forefront of his mind.

"We would alternate every year. One year I'd plan what we were going to do and it'd be his turn the next. He met at my place that night and we were talking. I don't know if you know much about Blaise but he had a lot of stepfathers. I can't even remember now how many husbands his mom went through…"

Hermione had heard rumors that Blaise's mother had been a black widow but she had assumed they were just were rumors. She had never given any serious thought to it before.

"He never talked about his real father and what had happened to him and so I never asked. That night though, he decided to open up to me."

Draco swallowed roughly and tried his best to look at Hermione as he admitted what happened next. She deserved the straight truth. Now was not the time to behave like a coward. If there was any chance of a future between them, then they would have to get through the pain of their past and that meant being honest and telling his terrible truth outright.

"Except he didn't just tell me what happened; he wanted to _show_ me. I trusted him because he was my best friend. So when we apparated to your parent's house I didn't ask him where we were or why we were there."

"Did he know they were my parents?"

"Yeah, he did, but I didn't know that. He didn't say anything to me. It seemed to me that it was just some random muggle's house, just like all the years before. Our victims were always picked at random. We never put much thought into it."

"So then, how many people have you killed? You make this sound like it was normal for you." Hermione asked with a disgusted expression on her face.

"No, it wasn't like that. We had never killed anyone before that. We would use the Imperius curse sometimes and make muggles do unflattering things, mess with their property, and on a few instances I'll admit that we even used a few hexes and curses for our own twisted amusement." It was clear in the tone of his voice that he hated the man he once been.

"We had always been really good at covering our tracks so we were never found out for our crimes. The thing is that, it seemed to escalate every year. I don't know what we would have done that night on the roof, when we tried to get that girl to walk off the edge...I'd like to think I wouldn't have let her hit the ground, that I was just going to scare her and then save her before she hit the bottom, but I never got a chance to find out what I was going to because you were there to make sure the right thing was done. You were there to save her and myself from me."

"You were lucky for that."

"I know. Not just that the situation was resolved correctly, but that you were the one who had saved me."

Hermione didn't say anything in response to this. She just waited in silence for him to continue.

"So I followed him into the house and he led me up to the bedroom. You parents were sleeping when we got there. He performed the Imperius curse on them and then he used them like puppets to act out the scene of his father's death. He showed me that his mother had murdered his father, as well as her pervious husbands like many of us had already expected. The terrible thing was that when he made your mother pretend to 'Avada Kadavra' your father…" Draco swallowed roughly. "…he performed the curse for real and he murdered him..."

Hermione's eyes shut in pain as she pictured his; her mother standing there like a ragdoll for the amusement of her killers; her father collapsing helpless as Blaise laughed…

"I just watched…horrified but, admittedly, fascinated at the same time. I wanted to know what happened, I was in disbelief that Blaise had just killed someone in front of me, and I didn't react. I think about that every day and I regret that I didn't do anything. I deserved to go to Azkaban for that. I deserved every day that I got."

Hermione nodded her head in slow agreement but didn't dare open her eyes to look at him.

"Then Blaise admitted to me that he hated his own mother and that he wanted to kill her sometimes. That's when he turned his wand to your mother and killed her too."

Draco could hear Hermione release a deep, shuddering breath.

"Hermione," he said her name very carefully, as though she were fragile and might break if he addressed her too harshly. "It was never really about your parents. Blaise was angry at his own parents and he took it out on your mom and dad. He chose them because he was angry at you, and Potter, and half of the wizarding world! He wanted an outlet and he wanted revenge so he this is how he got it…and I enabled it all. I could have stopped it. I could have killed him when he first killed your dad and tried to save your mother, but I didn't…because I was a coward! I was full of hatred and I didn't know who I was…"

Draco was speaking quickly and passionately now. "Until you loved me…I believed that I was nothing more than a deatheater. That was all I was ever going to be! I believed that I didn't have any more potential than what my father told me I had. I did everything they told me to do and I went along as people did terrible things to innocent people! I encouraged their hatred and even participated myself at times. I'm not going to lie to you, and I never will…"

Tears were spilling from her eyes through her tightly closed eyelids. Hermione buried her face into her hands and tried to look away from Draco as he confessed.

"I can't do anything to change the past and I can't say anything that's going to make you feel better. I wish I could. If I could give my life to bring them back, I would do that for you without a moment's hesitation. For what I did, I owe you my life."

"Killing you wouldn't help anything," said Hermione, shocked that he had suggested that, through a broken and strained voice.

"If it made you feel better…"

"It wouldn't! You going away to Azkaban didn't make me feel better either."

She finally opened her eyes, her dark eyes lying under a flood of tears. "It just made me feel more alone! I hate what you did and I always will, but I didn't hate you…I wanted to hate you, and I tried to hate you! I tried so hard to hate you because I thought it would take away this feeling I have tugging at my heart but it never worked…and now I don't know what to do!"

"Let yourself realize that I didn't kill your parents..." suggested Draco tentatively.

He had to say it. He needed her to separate him from Blaise's actions if it was at all possible. It was clear to him that she was fighting the love she had felt for him, and the struggle was only adding to the pain she felt because she couldn't do it. Neither of them could.

"I saw them die but I didn't take their lives," he pressed.

"Sometimes it feels like it doesn't really make a difference," she said helplessly.

"If you asked me to, I would break into Azkaban and kill Blaise if it would make you feel better. I would do anything in this world if it could heal the pain that you feel…but all I can honestly do is be here for you and love you, because I do love you, and I always will."

Hermione put up her hand to stop him talking. "No, don't. I can't deal with that too. I don't want to hear that right now."

"It's true Hermione. It's always been true and nothing is going to change how I feel. Love is the only thing that is going to allow you to survive this pain. I know that for a fact."

Draco could see that Hermione wanted him to stop talking but he wasn't going to quit. "When I was in Azkaban, I wanted to succumb to the suffering. I wanted to waste away in my own shame, guilt and regret. There were days when I wanted to surrender to their cruelty and beg for the dementors kiss, just to be released from the pain of what I had done! The only thing…the only thing that allowed me to survive that terrible place was _you_."

"I didn't do anything for you."

"You loved me."

"Once."

"It doesn't matter. The love you felt for me was strong enough for me to hold onto. It was my only light in the darkness for eighteen years. I would have lost my mind and succumbed to insanity without it. I owe you everything I am."

Hermione stood up suddenly, wiped her eyes, and began to mutter to herself, "I can't do this…I can't go there again. I've come too far to go back."

"Hermione," Draco called out before she reached the door.

She stopped for a moment as she reached out and grabbed onto the door handle.

"I know that this is the wrong time to ask you…but I have to know…," began Draco in a pleading voice. He tried to gather his nerve as best he could. He had to ask. It was going to torment him all night if he didn't.

"Sophia…I have to know…"

"No," adamantly stated Hermione with a protective snarl. "_No,_ you don't get to ask me about her. You don't get to talk to me about her…ever."

Before he had the opportunity to say another word, she quickly slipped out the door and disappeared.

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A/N: Publishing this update is going to make me late for class so I don't have time for a real author's note. Ahh! Review! Please?


	18. Flying Fools

_Who am I kidding? I know what I'm missing. I had my heart set on you, but nothing else hurts like you do. Who knew that love was so cruel? I waited and waited so long for someone who'll never come home. It's my fault to think you'll be true …_

_Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton_

.

It was impossible for Draco to tell how Hermione was processing their last conversation. It had been over a week and she had managed to avoid him at every turn. The only time he'd seen her was briefly during meals in the Great Hall and she had eaten quickly each day, barely even taking the time to talk to Ginny, and left as soon as she was finished.

It frustrated Draco.

He still wanted answers about Sophia, and had been tempted a couple times to hold her back after class and ask her bluntly what she knew of her father. Luckily he'd been able to refrain, knowing that it would be an inappropriate move that would only service to infuriate Hermione more, if she wasn't already livid with him.

The only distraction he had to look forward to was quidditch. Draco had arranged with the Slytherin Captain, Joshua Karver, to appear at their practice that weekend and help them out.

So far, the Slytherin Quidditch Team had been unsuccessful at inviting a mentor to come to the school and work with them. This was mainly because the team had set their prospects too high, all of them believing that they only best which; which meant inviting a professional quidditch player come and aid them. This never worked out because no one on the team had the means to afford a professional's services and had no one actually taken the initiative to write someone ask if they would volunteer for free. The team, overall, had a terrible tendency to pass on responsibilities to the next person and assume that every problem wasn't their problem.

For the sake of his house's dignity, he hoped that a better team would be picked for the next year…

Even though his team was mildly disappointing, it was nice to have the opportunity to break in his new broomstick. He found it was easy to manage, and easily the nicest broom he'd ever owned. He'd received a few envious looks from the team as he walked out onto the pitch with it in tow.

"Thanks for comin' professor," said Joshua.

"I'm happy to help," said Draco as he judgmentally surveyed the team in front of him.

"Make sure you lot do exactly as professor Malfoy says!" shouted Joshua Karver. "I don't want to have to put any of you in line, but I will! Don't make me regret putting you on this team!" Karver wasn't nearly as intimidating as he believed himself to be in his head, but at least he gave a valiant effort. That much could be said for him.

Draco assigned the team a few drills to run and then pulled their seeker aside in order to show her a few tricks and tips he'd learned during his quidditch days.

The Slytherin seeker was a mousey looking fifth year named Lana Easton. She looked timid and terrified as they ascending into the air.

"What's wrong? You look nervous."

"I am. I'm used to Karver screaming at us all the time. I don't play well under pressure," she admitted quietly.

"I don't think anyone does. You don't have to be nervous though. Karver isn't over here so don't worry about him. Just try to clear your mind and focus on the moment before you, right now."

It was good advice that he wished he could follow for himself. The entire week he had been plagued with memories of his happy times with Hermione, inter-spliced with not so pleasant memories of his arrest and time in Azkaban.

He wanted to move on with his life, freed from his past, but he wanted to have Hermione in it as well. If there was any chance he could have both, peace of mind and the love of his life, then he was going to take it. He was just waiting for the right opportunity to present itself.

"Professor?"

He had cleared dazed off into the depths of his own thoughts. He mentally shook it off. "Sorry, right." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of small, golf-ball sized, red balls. "So I'm going to toss these out, one at a time, and I want you to fly out and retrieve them all. Once you have them bring them back here to me."

"What if I don't get them all?"

"Then you have to go find them on the ground and bring them back up. It'll sharpen your eyes and help you work on your diving. Trust your instincts. You're better at this than you give yourself credit for. I've seen you play before and you're alright. You just need to polish your skills." It was a little bit of a lie. True, had had technically seen her play, but during the last game he had been so distracted by Ron, Hermione and Sophia that he'd hardly played attention to what any of the Slytherin players were doing.

"Are you ready?"

"I guess," she squeaked and shrugged her shoulders helplessly. Normally, her meekness would have annoyed him and put him in an irritable state, but the exhaustion of his emotions had made him feel indifferent to the world.

Draco drew his arm back then threw the first ball as far out as he could manage, and Lana zoomed out after it. She easily retrieved it in time to spot the next ball that he'd threw out shortly after.

Draco moved onto the beaters after he finished the exercise with Lana, and then moved onto the chasers and finished up last with Terrance Davenport, the Slytherin Keeper. He made it a point to pick an especially difficult drill for Terrance to run when he remembered how he'd bullied Sophia.

/

"What's going on with you?" asked Ginny, passing a butterbeer over to Hermione as they settled down onto Hermione's couch.

Crookshanks, who was rather old by now, jumped up onto the couch after her and took advantage of the opportunity by nestling himself comfortably into Ginny's lap. She gently stroked his head until he began to purr, his little eyes closed in contentment.

"What do you mean?"

Ginny looked at her skeptically. "C'mon, you know you've been acting strange lately. I know you run at a maximum stress level on a regular basis, but you've been especially wound up this last week."

Hermione gave a nervous laugh and tightly crossed her legs. "I am… It's Draco…him being here is starting to get to me, you know?"

"I was expecting that to happen eventually." Ginny was basically the only person who knew the truth about her past with Draco, save a few private details involving dementors, and knew how Hermione had felt about him. True, Harry was aware of a little bit, but he had always been in denial of just how deep their relationship had run.

"I was doing fine Gin! I just…I made a mistake, I think."

"How so?"

"I asked him to tell me about my parent's death," she admitted.

Ginny's eyes widened as she looked at her like she was an idiot, her mouth hanging open incredulously. "What? Why? Why in Merlin's good name did you do that for?"

"I've been conflicted about my feelings I think!" Hermione grunted in frustration as she struggled for the right words to describe the internal conflict she felt brewing inside of her. "There's this part of me that wants to forgive him for his involvement! A part of me that wants redemption for him," she confessed.

"You're not responsible for his redemption though! Look, it's fine if you want to forgive him, but do it for yourself and not for him or anyone else."

"I realize that…I know what you're saying is true." She uncrossed her legs and began to bounce her knee anxiously, and absentmindedly began to wring her hands. "It's just been so odd seeing him every day. I had him pushed to the back of my mind for so long. I didn't have to think about the way I used to feel if I didn't want to, and now it seems like I'm reminded every single day that I used to be in love with him. It's tormenting."

"That's because you never really let yourself move on Hermione," said Ginny as she leaned in towards her friend in order to emphasize her point.

"I tried to! I really did!" Hermione let out a nervous laugh and started to nervously pull down on her curls without realizing she was doing so. "I went on a few dates with a couple of wizards, and I gave it a good effort. I just never found someone who really interested me. There has never been anyone who can make me feel the way he did…and I feel guilty about that! I don't want the love of my life to be the man who murdered my parents! It's crazy! I would be mad to look at him the way I used to, wouldn't I?"

"He's not the man who murdered your parents though."

When Ginny said this, she wasn't trying to support Draco or even trying to defend him. She was merely being honest because she hated to see her best friend in such pain. She knew that Hermione had never moved on from Draco and had predicted a long time ago that eventually her feelings would rise back up. At this point, she wanted her friend to heal, regardless of what that would require. "Blaise killed them," she stressed as she pulled Hermione's hand away from her hair and took hold of it.

Hermione looked into her fixed eyes, showing her complete attention; no longer shaking or fiddling with herself in an effort to avoid her thoughts and feelings.

"Not Draco." Ginny continued. "You don't have to feel like you loved a murderer because, technically, you didn't. Don't carry the weight of that when you don't have to."

"That's exactly why I went to him, Gin. I needed to hear for myself that didn't 'pull the trigger' sort of speak; that he wasn't the one that had ended it all for them." She realized that Ginny didn't get understand her muggle reference, but she didn't stop her to ask what it meant.

Hermione pulled her hand back and restarted the process of meddling with her curls. "It's just that now I can picture it all so vividly. The thoughts I had in my head before were always terrible, but they kept changing. The facts kept morphing, and I made Draco out to be his cruel and sinister person in my mind. I thought that if I made him into a monster, and really believed the he was one, then my heart would stop…stop yearning…" her voice dwindled at the end but Ginny hard her clearly anyway.

"But it hasn't? Has it? Now that he's back, you're feeling everything strong than before."

Tears were sliding down her cheeks now as she silently nodded.

"When he told me what happened and how sorry he was…I could feel how sincere his remorse is…and I don't want to feel sorry him," said shake, shaking her head furiously. "He doesn't deserve my understanding!"

"No, he doesn't, but Hermione; you deserve to do what makes you happy. I know that for a long time you've avoided dealing with your feelings because you've been focused on being a mother, but Sophia is almost out of school. She'll be an adult soon and won't need you to care of her. You don't have to feel guilty about putting yourself first anymore! If you need to find closure with Draco then I think you should pursue it that so you can have peace of mind."

"That's just it. What if I don't find closer? What if I just reopen that door?"

"Do you really think you ever closed it?"

"I'm not sure, Ginny. I'm really not sure."

/

The Slytherin team had finished practiced almost an hour ago, but Draco didn't go inside with them. He needed to sort out his thoughts and so he decided to go flying around the grounds.

He used to do this a lot as a student. It was one of the few ways he knew of to get absolute, guaranteed, uninterrupted privacy in this school.

It was peaceful in the air, and the beauty of the landscape had a serene effect on his mood. Already he was able to think more clearly then he could before, on the ground.

A soft gust of wind blew towards him, flirting with the tree tops on its way over to him, causing the leaves to flutter in a mixed frenzy. Draco shut his eyes as he deeply inhaled the breeze. He felt the touch of the air caressing his skin and gently pass through his hair, knocking a few strands loose so that they fell down gracefully into his face, but he didn't bother reaching up to move them back. He just let them be.

It felt incredible to be free, especially like this, but freedom had a bitter taste without love. It was clear to him that he would never be able to continue with his life if he didn't try to get her back. Hermione was the love of his life and she always would be. If he didn't make his best effort to show her that, he would regret it until he became an old and miserable man.

It wasn't as if he anything to lose. If she hated him for his efforts, then he would be right where he was now, although possibly unemployed.

Not that it really mattered to him. Even with his father's hatred towards him, he had retained his inheritance seeing as he was the only heir his parents had. After his probation ended he would have full access to those funds without restriction. He didn't really have to worry about his livelihood. If he wanted to, if he had the courage to, he had the liberty to follow his heart without material consequence.

On the other end of the spectrum was the possibility that he could win her back. He dared to hope that past her hardened shell was still the woman who had once loved him enough to risk everything.

Then there was Sophia…She could hold a different part of his heart entirely. He didn't dare wish that she could belong to him, but still he couldn't help but wonder. There was something about her that so was familiar to him, in a way that was beyond words, and he needed to know the truth before his mind could rest.

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A/N: Whoever reviews this chapter first will have the 300th review! That's pretty exciting to me. Thank you so much for your feedback! It's really helped to keep me motivated.

See you next chapter!


	19. There is No Choice in Love

_You only know what I want you to. I know everything you don't want me to. Your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine. You think your dreams are the same as mine…I wish you'd hold me when I turn my back. The less I give, the more I get back. Ooh, your hands can heal, your hands can bruise. I don't have a choice but I still choose you…Ooh, I don't love you but I always will…I always will…_

_The Civil Wars_

.

Ginny had just left and Hermione was preparing to turn in for the night; even though she knew that sleep was not going to find her. There were too many thoughts and emotions flooding her mind for her to find any kind of rest.

Hermione had allowed herself to have a couple glasses of wine, and was now fighting the urge to find something stronger. Every time the stress overwhelmed her, she had to fight the temptation to lose herself in the bottom of a bottle.

The wine had given her a slight buzz, but she was still very much aware of herself and still in control. It was an okay place for her to be mentally but she wouldn't allow herself to pour another glass, just to be safe. It was a fine line she walked each time she trusted herself enough to drink.

It had helped slightly to talk to Ginny and confess her emotions aloud. She had been feeling ashamed and guilty about her inner conflicts for so long, and a slight weight was lifted off by having the opportunity to talk to someone. Even with that slight relief though, she still had enough weighing on her mind that she still felt far from being at peace.

It was heavy on her hurt to realize that she would still have to see Draco the next day in the Great Hall and each subsequent day after that. Every day she saw him reminded her of what they had once had and the way she used to feel. The memories were relentless, and she felt like a helpless victim to her overwhelming past. A past that had grown tsunami like power and was threatening to topple over her and drown her in her own turbulent emotions if she wasn't careful.

Something Ginny had said stuck with her and kept replaying in her thoughts. The reminder that Sophia was almost an adult, and that meant that Hermione could put herself first without feeling guilty. For so long, she hadn't felt that she had the privilege to prioritize her own problems over her daughter's needs, or had the opportunity to sort through the skeletons in her own dark closet. In a way, she had used her daughter as an excuse to ignore her issues. It was easier to say that she couldn't face the past because she was dealing with the hardships of being a mother. Soon though, Sophia would be leaving Hogwarts, their home, and Hermione would be alone with her ghosts.

Up until now she hadn't really thought of that. The future had always seemed so distant when she was so deeply rooted in her stunted past. Her friends had acquired complete families, happy marriages, and rich, fulfilling lives. After Sophia left, all Hermione would really have was an aging cat and her career…

Was she being unreasonable about her feeling towards Draco? Had pain caused her to become bitter and unchanging?

It felt like no matter what she did, it would be the wrong choice. Allowing herself to feel for him felt like risking an insult to her parent's memory. Denying herself to explore any residual emotions felt like a betrayal to herself, and a denial of her own heart.

She already knew that she couldn't hope for another man to talk into her life and resolve her feelings. No man in the last eighteen years was able to compare, or even hold a candle to how Draco had made her feel. The connection between them had been too great to ever be satisfied or mimicked by someone else.

He was wrong for her in so many ways; dangerous and destructive. At the same time he was the only thing she needed right now. He offered resolution, healing, growth and opportunity for her. An end to this internal conflict that was chipping away at her sanity.

The effect he had on her was unlike anyone else. Her self-discipline was slipping because of his him, and she knew it. He made her compulsive and irrational, clouded her mind so that she was acting long before she remembered to think.

There was a part of her that wanted him to take all self-control and choice away from her, but she knew that she would never surrender and allow that to happen. She was too much of a control freak.

That need for control had prevented her from having so many things in her life, and had kept her from moving on from the things that had hurt her. She was unable able to accept the fact that she would never be able to change the pain of her past, no matter how much she wanted to and no matter how much control she obtained. It would never make a difference.

The only option she had, if she wanted to remain whole and sane, was the move forward and try to leave the past behind her.

/

Draco couldn't do it anymore.

He couldn't live this way.

At least in Azkaban, everything was clear. Everything was pain, suffering, bleak and cold at all times. There was no teetering back and forth between happiness and despair. It was maddening.

Without her love, there was depression, loneliness, regret, and denial.

When he had her love, it was the exact opposite; euphoric, exhilarating, addicting and wonderfully toxic at all times.

But this…this life was lukewarm and it was making his soul nauseous and he couldn't take it anymore.

The idea of being able to rebuild a happy life that didn't include Hermione was a fucking joke. If he couldn't have her love in his life then what meaning did life have?

He needed her, and it wasn't because he was weak or because he didn't love himself. It was deeper than that. He had melded her into the core of his being, and without that crucial piece he could never be whole.

It was more tormenting to see her every day and not be able to have her than it had been to be separated from her behind stone prison walls. It was cruel to have to be near her on a regular basis but not be able to touch her; a living nightmare to see her lips before him and not be allowed to kiss them…

It had been almost twenty years since he had touched her, since he had been able to show her how much he loved her. Now that he had come to terms with the truth of his love, it felt impossible that he was even able to breathe without that intimate connection.

He knew where Hermione stayed in the castle, and he knew that he wasn't allowed to go there but he didn't care anymore.

He was throwing caution to the wind.

She could fire him if she wanted to. It didn't matter to him anymore. She was going to hear the truth of his heart whether she was ready for it or not. To go on one more day without telling her he loved her would be a lie to his existence.

/

Draco pounded on the door as he arrived. It was late, and if she was sleeping he wanted to make sure she would wake up. He was being inconsiderate, but it didn't matter. The situation they were living in was inconsiderate and he didn't want to live like this for another moment; tip-toeing around the truth like cowards.

Hermione froze when she heard the door and her breath stopped in the middle of her throat. She didn't have to peek to know that it was him. She could feel it.

Like a rabbit being chased by a fox, her heart began pattering frantically against her chest. The sound of her fear pounded in her ear like resounding thunder.

She watched from inside herself as her body crossed the room and opened the door as if a ghost had taken her over; as if it were necessary for some unforeseen force to take control of her because she didn't have the courage to go to the door herself.

Draco's hair was still windswept from flying that night, giving him the illusion that he had run there. Matched up with the blazing passion in his eyes, it gave him an almost wild appearance.

"Hermione, we have to talk…." His voice was authoritative and it was clear that he was not requesting an audience with her-he was demanding it. "and don't give me that Professor crap. I don't care. I'm not coming to you as my Headmistress or as my peer. I'm talking to _you_, Hermione and you're just going to have to deal with that."

Draco noticed that there were residual tear stains on her cheeks as if she had been crying again. She looked pale and stress had imprinted itself under her eyes. It was as if she felt too weak to argue with him as she stepped aside and allowed him to enter her home.

"I'm going crazy," his voice broke as he admitted this helplessly. He finally pushed back the loose hairs that were falling into his face and turned to face her.

"I feel like I'm losing my mind here." He laughed as he thought about it. "I spent eighteen years in Azkaban and didn't lose my mind there, but being here with you…I'm going crazy! You must know this because I can see it in you too. I can see it in your eyes that you're going through this with me."

"Of course you being here is affecting me Draco," she admitted, but she wouldn't look at him. "Fine, I'll admit that I didn't think it was going to when you go here! I thought that I was strong enough to be over the past and to teach myself indifference towards you, but it's not working! I have to learn to hate you or I have to…," her voice trailed off and she began shifting her weight from one leg to the other, nervously, like she was tempted to run out the door and avoid this conversation entirely.

"You have to what?" pressed Draco, leaning his head in towards her. "What Hermione? Admit that you still love me?"

Hermione looked pained to say it. "I don't think I can allow myself to do that."

"That's just it Hermione!" Draco stepped closer to her and noticed her flinch, but she didn't back away. "You keep acting like you have a _choice_. If we could chose who we loved then life would be easy, wouldn't it? I never chose to love you. You came to me in a fake shell, disguised as Megan and I still fell for you! Do you even remember that? I fell in love with you then and I didn't even know who you were. I believed you were a muggle, and that stood against everything I thought I was. It defied all of my beliefs and my upbringing but I still loved you! My love for you showed me who I am and ever since then I have had absolutely no say in how I feel. I'm a prisoner to my heart. Each day I wake up and breath, the thought of you is right there alongside my heartbeat. A constant presence. Don't you understand that?" as he spoke, he clutched onto his chest desperately as if his heart was panged by his confession.

Hermione didn't know what to say to that. She stood before him with her mouth gaped open and her eyes flittering from his face back down to the floor.

He took another step closer to her and still, she didn't move away.

"So, I can't do this anymore. I can't live like this, and I can't deal with this coldness…your feigned indifference and these stupid titles," he spat. "I can't pretend that I'm just your colleague or just friend with a past. It's a lie! I'm the man who is in love with you and will be for the rest of my life. If you can't accept that then that's too bad, because I'm not going to hide it anymore!" He was nearly shouting, but his voice wasn't angry. "You can reject me all you want, but I'm still going to have this love in my heart meant only for you. Every. Day…for the rest of my life."

Draco let out a heavy sigh, threw his hands down to his sides, and lowered the volume of his voice to a softer and tenderer tone. "And it will be there, ready for you, when you're able to accept it. I'm not like you with that I guess," he said with a shrug. "You seem to think that we have a choice in this. That we can hate each other and if we manage that the love will just go away? You think that we can just ignore everything and indifference will settle in, but that will never happen! It _can't_ happen because there is no force in the world strong enough to kill true love. Not even magic. You know that, Hermione. I know you do."

He shook his head in disbelief and caused the loose strands of hair to fall back into his face, but he left them alone, and refused to brake his gaze from her. "So you can keep trying, and keep pushing away your feelings for me, but it's not going to work. No matter what you try to do, I'm not going to fight it. I'm going to embrace it because it's the best thing that ever happened in my life, and even without your reciprocation it always will be the greatest treasure I own and no one can take that away from me. Not even you."

It was as if someone had slapped Hermione across the face and stunned her. She was listening to him, but her face looked like it was in some form of shock as she stood there in took in every word.

"And you can report my behavior to Harry if you want to," he added for good measure with a sneer. "I don't care. If you want me gone, that's fine too. I'm sure you can persuade the board of governors to let me go if you really want to. That's your call, and if that's what you really want then I'll go quietly. I can't control what you do. I can only control myself and I am choosing to be here for you…now that actually I'm able to be."

They were standing so close to one another that Draco's arms twitched with the temptation to pull her in towards him. "I'm sorry I was gone Hermione," he lamented. "I'm sorry that I haven't been here for the last eighteen years, and I would do anything to change that if I could but I don't have the power to do that. I confessed what I had done, because it was the right thing to do. I have come clean about all my wrongdoings and it's been in honor of you. So that I can be closer to deserving you and become a better man. I want to be the best man I can be for you Hermione and that means I can't be a liar, and I can't be a coward! I will regret my involvement in that terrible crime for the rest of my life, but I have paid the price society has asked me to pay! I will pay another sentence if it will satisfy, but you have to tell me what you want. You have to tell me what it is you need? What punishment would satisfy you? What would help you let go of the pain and the loss you endured? Please, if you know, then tell me!"

"I-I don't know," she stuttered. "I have no idea."

"Do you want me to go away again? Did that help you heal when I was gone?"

"No, no it didn't." The tears were fighting their way back, burning hot in her eyes. She pushed them away with the back of her shaking hand.

"What is it that you need then in order to heal? In order to get past this hurt?

"I-I need…I needed to be able to be there to protect them!" she choked out and, even to her own surprise, began to beat her fist against Draco's chest. "If I couldn't be there then you should have been there for me! Not just watching! Protecting them and you didn't!"

Draco took hold of her wrists, but didn't pull her in. He just held her arms firmly between them as he spoke. "That's right Hermione, because I didn't know you then like I do now. I hadn't fallen in love with you yet and I hadn't yet changed. I didn't know they were important to you or to anyone, so I didn't act. I didn't! That will never change. No matter how much pain you allow yourself to suffer through. It will never be different. So what now? Will you suffer for the rest of your life because of it? Will you turn away any chance of happiness in honor of your sorrow? No matter how much you hurt, it's not going to bring them back! We don't honor the dead by destroying our lives and turning down the love we're given! We honor them by living and allowing ourselves to embrace the things and the people who make us happy. The people who understand and complete us. You can't change what happened then but you can chose what we do right now."

Hermione was weeping now as the truth rained down on her through his words. It was difficult to hear but she knew, despite her want for him to be wrong, that he was right.

Draco dared to move closer towards her but he didn't. The sight of her tears still gave him the urge to hold her but it wasn't the right moment. She was listening, and she hadn't thrown him out yet. He didn't want to push his luck. She pulled to drop her arms and he let her, hesitantly loosening his grip on her wrists.

"I'm the same man who loved you after they died. They were gone, and you didn't know, and we still had our love. Their loss doesn't have to hurt you like this. I can see you're suffering and you just have to trust me that you can leave this pain behind if you make the decision to do so. I can help you do that, but you have to let me in."

"How on earth can you can you help me?" she asked with a disbelieving laugh that shot through her tears.

"We can let our love heal the both of us."

Hermione looked at him like he was joking.

"Your love healed me," he stressed. His expression was completely serious. "Now let me have the chance to let my love heal you in return."

A look of fear glossed over her eyes and she finally took a step back from him. "No. I can't do that. I'm scared to…I can't survive being hurt again. Do you understand that Draco? I can't endure anymore heartache. I will fall apart into nothingness if I have to feel pain like that again,"

She began to break down in tears again and Draco didn't care how she would react as he reached out and pulled her tightly into his arms. To his surprise, she surrendered to this and collapsed into his chest as she began to weep profusely; breaking down into helpless tears, crying for all the last eighteen years of suppressed pain.

He held her as close and tightly as possible without hurting her. She could hear the soothing sound of his heartbeat radiating off of his warm chest and realized that it had been far too long since the last time she had been truly comforted by someone.

For Draco, it was like a dream come true to be able to finally hold her in his arms and he relished in the moment. Her hot tears splashed onto his shirt and wet it, but he didn't care. She could soak all the shirts he owned if she needed to and he'd be there.

"I'm not going to let you be hurt again," whispered Draco tenderly into her ear.

"You can't promise that."

"I can promise that you won't be hurt by me. I promise that I will defend you from anything and anyone who would try to cause you harm. I can promise you that I would never desert you in any situation where you needed me. I'm back, and I'm here for you now. I'm not going anywhere Hermione."

"I just feel so conflicted." She pulled away gently and began to wipe her eyes into her sleeve. Without invitation, Draco extended his hand and brushed away the tears that were settling onto her cheek. The feel of his touch on her face caused her eyes to close and her body to shiver.

"That's because you're listening to your mind and not paying attention to your heart. If you just shut off your mind and feel what's inside of you, you won't be confused anymore. There won't be any more conflict, and you'll know exactly what you want. It will be so clear. In order to do that though, you have to really surrender to what's in you...right now."

"I know, and I'm scared to do that."

"Don't be. I'll be right here on the other side waiting for you."

"Why do you even want this Draco? Don't you want to start your life over and find someone else? I know you loved me when you went in, but you don't have to do the same thing now that you have a second chance. You can have a new life and love someone new."

"Never like I love you. They would always be second best compared to you. No other woman has the potential to come close to you and you know how Malfoys are; we have to have the best or nothing at all. I can't help it. It's my nature." Draco shook his head and couldn't help the small smile that crept onto the corner of his lips. The idea seemed so crazy to him that it was almost funny.

Hermione almost smiled in return, but refrained.

"Understand this," said Draco as he boldly took hold of her hands and stared directly into her sad brown eyes with his firm, and certain grey pools. "You are my life and I can't let go of that. I will never let go of that."

"Can't you understand how scared I am though? How terrified I feel to let myself feel that way again? I gave you everything. My trust, my soul, and all of my heart…and I got hurt so badly. Beyond repair it feels like..."

"I know that you're afraid and I understand why" he interrupted her, "but I'm not going anywhere this time. There are no more secrets, and no more pain looming in the shadows to hurt you. I know you're scared to say it but I know that you still love me Hermione."

"How can you know that?" She turned her head away so that he couldn't read her face.

"I can see it in your eyes every time I look at you. Even when you think you hate me, there's always that spark of love behind your eyes. It's unconditional, and as long as it's there I will always have hope for us."

She struggled for the right thing to say, for the right thing to feel. She was cascading and tumbling through a sea of emotions and needed to find solid footing before she let herself do or say anything else.

"I-I need time to think," she said as she pulled her hands out of Draco's grip and hugged them tightly around her waist. "I don't know what I want Draco. I just need space right now, please?"

Draco didn't push her any farther. He had said his peace and there wasn't much more he could do to persuade her. The ball was in her court now.

"I'll let myself out then. If you need me, you know where I am," he offered.

"I know," said Hermione with a nervous nod of her head. She wasn't looking at him anymore but anxiously looking about the room waiting for him to live.

Once he had gone, however, she immediately felt terribly alone without his presence to support her. The room felt incredibly cold and she was shaken up without a source of comfort.

It was true that she still loved him. It was true that she never could stop no matter how hard she had tried to. Could she ever justify acting on that love though? Was it really okay to accept him, knowing what he did? Would she be shaming her family if she let him love her the way she wanted to be loved?

All she knew for sure was that there was still a gaping hole in heart that needed to be filled, an ebbing loneliness that haunted her at all times, even when she was surrounded by people; and she knew that no man in the world could ever come close to the man who had just walked out her door…

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A/N: First thing- I am spoiling you guys lol Second thing- I have been waiting to use those lyrics since I started writing Bridges! That's two years! Ahhh! I love the Civil Wars and if you don't listen to them then you need to do so right now! Third thing- I'm not even really close to done with this story yet but I am trying to brainstorm a plot line for my next Dramione. (It's a long process folks) I am open to suggestions for storylines, scenes, motivations, anything really that you'd like to read in a Dramione. I don't think I could write a believable marriage-law fic, but the whole slave-fic idea does intrigue me. Shoot me some ideas and lemme know!

Thanks for the reviews! Over 300! That's madness! Incredible Madness!


	20. Fleeting Embrace

_They say love's supposed to set you free, give you wings to fly. They say love's supposed to hold the key to life and eternity…So when the party's over, you suddenly get colder; and I need someone to hold me tighter and tell me every things gonna be alright…__They say love has all the answers to your questions. Well baby I'm still lost…Can't be love because of my fear, and it ain't enough. No, I don't believe in love… _

_Laura Izibor_

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Hermione laid in bed for over an hour waiting for sleep that would never come. Eventually she pulled herself out of bed and decided on a course of action. She wrapped a robe around her nightgown and headed out into the corridor and then made her way down to the dungeons.

To her surprise, she found that his door wasn't locked. It was almost as if he'd been expecting her to show up, or hoping it at the very least.

She invited herself in, walking softly as she entered the room and slowly shut the door behind her. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest, making her feel like the sound of it was resounding through the room.

Draco was sleeping in his bed, breathing softly, completely unaware that she had entered his room. The light was dim, save for the glow of the moon pouring in from the window; but she could make out the look of his sleeping face. His hair was thrown about in a soft blonde mess, and his mouth was parted open slightly but he wasn't snoring. Despite the chaos she knew he was dealing with internally, he looked incredibly peaceful on the outside; beautiful even.

Without allowing herself to think or to contradict her feelings, she gently lifted up the covers of his bed and crawled in beside him. She didn't think about why she did it, and simply followed her impulse; going along with her heart's desires instead of her mind's predicaments for once.

By reflex, Draco wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her closely in against his warm body. She lay still in his embrace, breathing in his scent, and feeling the warmth of his chest. She knew that he was still asleep as she settled herself into the moment. She hadn't been entirely certain of what to expect, but it felt right for her to be here.

Draco began to stir, and his eyes fluttered open as they tried to focus through the darkness.

"Hermione?" he slurred in a half-awake state.

She nodded initially, but then realized that he couldn't see her. "Yeah, it's me," she answered softly.

Draco started to wake up, unsure if he was dreaming or not.

"Really?"

"Yes, it's me. You're not dreaming Draco."

"What-why?" He leaned over and grabbed his wand from the night stand in order to turn on a dim light so that he could see her with his own two eyes. "Hermione, what are you doing here?"

"I don't completely know," she struggled. He was listening to her with soft, sleepy, yet attentive eyes. She felt safe next to him and didn't want him to send her away so she opened up. "I just know that my heart is broken…" she began. She felt stupid and vulnerable for being here. Maybe this whole idea had been a mistake. "…I don't know how to fix it and I guess I came here because…because I was hoping you could help me?"

The light was dim but she could still make out his smirk through the darkness. "That's right. I can you, if you'll let me?"

"I think I want to try," she said with a small nod.

"We should start here then," he said softly. No one else was in the room with them but it felt right to keep his voice down in the dim atmosphere.

He carefully traced the outline of her lips with his thumb before replacing his finger with the soft feel of his lips.

It was as if Draco had been holding himself back for days as he pulled her in closer and slowly lost grip of his composure as their kiss grew deeper.

He held onto that kiss as if his life depended on it. For him, it felt breathing for the first time. She was all he wanted or needed.

When she didn't back away or go running out of his bed, he attempted to kiss her again and felt her return the gesture with enthusiasm. The moment grew hotter as he boldly slid his tongue past her lips and felt them collide in a desperate need. His tongue traced the curve of her body lip just before they separated that kiss and he heard her weakly whimper in response.

Her lips begged for more as she pressed them sensually against the taunt muscles of his neck. He dipped his head down and caught her lips hungrily back against his own. Then, instead of detaching his lips from her, moved his caress slowly down the side of her neck. His tongue occasionally slid sensual patterns against her soft skin and he felt her squirm readily in his arms.

Hermione began to lose control and gasped out Draco's name as she felt his hot breath hiss against the exposed and vulnerable dip of her shoulders.

His touch was making her so and she rapidly pushed her robe off of her body then let it fall to the floor so that she was lying beside him in just her night gown.

Draco's hands were wrapped fondly around the center of her body and she could feel the eager twitch of his hands as he fought back the desire to explore her curves, and wander across the canvas of her body.

Half of her wanted him to touch her more and the other half wanted to run away. Luckily, Draco was holding onto her tight enough that she decided it would be much easier to stay right where she was.

Draco's lips changed directions and began trailing kisses up from her collar bone, affectionately tracing the counter of her jaw, then moved up behind her ear where he started to gently nibble at her earlobe. She melted at his touch and he could feel it as she quivered in reaction to his touch.

It had been years since she'd been touch by anyone at all, and more than a decade since she'd sincerely felt this way. Her body was clearly letting her know that she wanted more of this, and she couldn't ignore the physical reaction she was experiencing. She needed to have more of him until she found her release.

His lips quickly found hers again, savoring the sweet flavor of her mouth as if life itself poured from them.

"Hermione," he moaned her name in yearning as he felt his body react to the feel of her perfect kiss. It took all of his self-control to keep himself restrained. Eighteen years without physical contact made it incredibly difficult not to react in an obvious manner, and it soon became clear that she was well aware of what she was doing to him.

Her fingers trailed up his chest on their way to grab onto his shoulders before she pulled at them until his body rolled over hers. She kept reminding her mind that it needed to quiet right now. This time she was going to let her body and her heart lead her. If only for one night…

Draco's thigh fell between her legs as he hovered above her. She could feel the firm tensing of his arm muscles as he held his body carefully above hers. Without realizing it, Hermione was rocking her body against his thigh with a pleading need as she caressed his arms and shoulders with a pleading need. She heard Draco groan through the near darkness as he endured the feel of her heated body rocking against him, her center hot and wet against his leg.

She latched her hands around his neck and pulled him down so that he started kissing and sucking at her neck. Her body curved up in pleasure as he incited her nerves, her chest rising up and opening towards him.

Draco bit his bottom lip as she reached up and let her nails run through his hair with a growing need. "Hermione…when you touch me like that baby I…" His sentence transformed into a moan as she ran her nails from the back of his neck down through the center of his back.

His grip on her moved; one hand placed on her hip and the other grabbed the back of her leg to lift it higher and wrap her grinding core harder against his thigh. He pressed his leg into her and felt the agonizing sensation of her wetness increasing as it drenched the thin fabric of her knickers.

Hermione sighed in pleasure as Draco's lips grazed across her skin, and his hands began to massage the mounds of her breasts. "Draco…mmm…I can't…Fuck, I can't tell if this is wrong or not…"

"Does it feel right?" he breathed into her ear as he continued to press into her center, and lightly teased her nipples through her thin layer of night gown.

She moaned and clutched onto him in desperate need. Her hips rose up higher on his thigh and then slowly pressed back down so that his leg rubbed against her engorged clit. She couldn't believe she was doing this, but she didn't want to stop.

"It feels good…but I...I don't know…"

"Shhh," he told her as he closed his lips over hers to silence her thoughts. "Then just go with what you feel. Don't think about it right now. We can deal with the consequences tomorrow. Just let yourself be here with me."

"Okay, I will. I'll trust you…for tonight. I'll stay," she agreed as she succumbed to him, grabbed his hand, and placed it lower between their aroused bodies.

It has been so long that Draco was trembling slightly as he pulled aside the band of her knickers and ran one long finger between her hot folds, causing an instant vocal and physical reaction from Hermione. He spread her lips open and ran his finger slowly up her slit and felt her hips raise up with his touch.

He circled her hot, wet opening but he didn't dare insert his finger yet. He waited a moment as he carefully observed and gauged her body language. He didn't want to move faster than she was ready for. It had been a long time for the both of them, and the last thing he wanted to do was accidently hurt her. He was relieved to find that her body was relaxed, her legs spread open and welcoming, her eyes were relaxed and gently closed and she seemed ready. So he took the plunge…

Slowly, he inserted the tip of his finger and felt her pull him in farther, as if pleading to be filled. Even with only one digit, only partially inside of her, she was tight against him. Draco felt a hard throbbing in his own member as he thought of what that wet tightness would do to him if he were inside her. Just the thought of it was nearly enough to make him feel like cumming.

There was a pained expression on Hermione's face. He paused with concern and stopped moving. He didn't want to push her to fast.

She was thinking too much.

"Just let go," he prompted again. "Stop thinking and just be here with me. We're not doing anything wrong, baby."

Hermione took a deep breath and tried to relax before spreading her legs further apart to show that she was ready. With ease, he pushed the rest of his finger in until it was deep inside her. She moaned aloud and rounded her hips towards him, asking him for more. He gladly complied as he pulled the first finger back out then pushed it back with a second to join it.

She moaned louder, her neck fling back in ecastacy, as he pushed his fingers up so that they pressed into her G-spot. He stroked her until her thighs were quivering.

She was so wet that her lubrication was sliding down his hand and soaking his knuckles. Even though she was tighter than he could remember her being before, he pulled back then inserted three long fingers into her. She gasped in reaction but kept riding diligently against his hand.

Draco was so concentrated on the feel of her tightening and releasing against his fingers, and the flow of her wetness washing over him, that he didn't notice her free hand as it reached over and pulled down at the edge of his night pants just enough to expose him.

It wasn't until her fingers rounded and grabbed onto him that he completely lost focus and cried out in please. "Merlin, Fuck," he cursed and hissed in a shuddering breath.

When he was in Azkaban, he hadn't dared to touch himself. He'd had eighteen years backed up with him and felt like they would all explode at once in response to that single touch.

"Hermione, baby…I don't know if I can handle…I don't want to disappoint you or embarrass myself," he muttered as she started to stroke him.

"I don't care. Just let me touch you…I want to…I need this." She shut him up this time as she latched onto him and bit down gently on his lip. She then began to tease his lips with her tongue, running it flirtingly across his bottom lip, then caressing his tongue with a slow stroke of her own.

Draco felt his compose slipping as she began shifting her hand up and down his firm hard on with a steady pace. She squeezed gently as she pushed up to his tip, then released the pressure of her hand as she stoked back down.

Draco's fingers were still buried deep inside her and he stroked her harder and faster in response to each way she was touching him. She began to pick up speed and Draco felt his core quiver as he began to lose himself in the midst of her touch.

"Hermione, baby…Fuck…I really can't," he begged, but she only touched him faster, and squeezed a little harder with each plea; steadily jerking her wrist as she milked him. He had to remove his fingers from inside of her and brace his hands on either side of her body, lifting himself up so that he wouldn't collapse on her as he felt his climax approaching

The look in her eyes was driving him crazy. So much so that he could barely concentrate and felt himself rapidly losing control. Her sultry, seductive eyes bore into him through the darkness as she watched him lose his composure because of her.

Eventually his mind shut off as his body began to spasm in orgasm. "Fuck!" he cursed out as he felt himself cumming for her, shooting into the palm of Hermione's palm without restriction.

He used his wand to quickly clean up his mess, and had barely set it back down when he pushed her back down onto the bed then dove his fingers aggressively into her wanting cunt.

"Oh God! Draco! Merlin, Fuck me!" she cried out and desperately clung onto his shoulders as he fucked her with his hand. Her eyes were rolling back into her head and fluttering with pleasure as her mind started to go blank. If she had been asked what her name was in that moment, she wouldn't be able to answer. All she knew was that her body was ignited in passion and it felt incredible.

"That's right Hermione. Just let yourself go and cum for me," encouraged Draco as he used his other hand to rub circles around her swollen nub as she ground against him in heat. "You're so fucking beautiful," he said in awe of her naked body writhing in the illuminated moon light, her hands clutching desperately into his sheets.

"Draco…Ohhhh…Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" She ground relentlessly against his hand and felt her insides fluttering as she approached her orgasm. Before she could grab onto something to shove in her mouth in order to muffle her cries, she was howling his name in orgasm.

Draco closed his kiss over her mouth in order to smother the sound of her cries as he continued to finger her through her wave of euphoria. It felt like heaven to hear his name pouring helplessly from her lips.

When the wave subsided, Draco carefully removed his hand and allowed her to slowly lower her hips back down onto the bed.

"I'm sorry if you needed more than that…I'm just not ready to go that far yet," she said as soon as she caught her breath.

"No, no. Shh. Shut up," Draco leaned over and spoke through his kisses. "Don't you dare apologize to me, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for."

"I was just trying to not think for once and I wanted to see where that lead me."

"I'm glad you did because it lead you into my arms," he said as he pulled her under his arm so that she could lay across his chest.

"Looks like it," said Hermione as she stifled a yawn then nuzzled herself into the cradle of his arm. He squeezed her affectionately and kissed the top of her head as he lay in his arms

"I want you just as you are…whichever way you're comfortable. When you want to go further, if you want to, then we can. When you're ready, you know that I'll be here. You never have to worry about that." He laid his bed back and began to absentmindedly stroke her curls between his fingers as he spoke.

"To be honest," he said with a light chuckle. "I don't know that you could have gotten more from me tonight anyway. It's kind of embarrassing, but I haven't been touched in…Merlin only knows how long…since we last made love, I suppose. I'm helpless to your touch to begin with and I think I was spent the first moment we kissed."

Hermione blushed and smiled at this, burrowing the top of her head further into the crook of Draco's arm as she snuggled into his warmth.

"Good night Hermione," said Draco with a content sigh as he began to fall asleep.

"Night," returned Hermione.

The warmth of her voice broke the usual cold, loneliness of his room but it didn't last long.

She was gone in the morning, and Draco woke up alone…

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A/N: I edited this chapter at like one in the morning so there are probably still some typos. Forgive me! I wrote a bunch of chapters last night as well. Up to chapter 26 I think...but that means a lot more editing. Sometimes it takes me longer to edit a chapter than it did to write it which is why I tend to procrastinate a little. Not this week, but this has been an unusual week for updating.

Anywho. I have my first recital as a voice student today and I'm a bit nervous! Any luck you send my way would be heartily welcomed! I give you this chapter in exchange for your well wishes. Aha!

I also wrote up a plot line for a new story last night. Like nothing I've ever written before. I don't know if I think it's stupid or not so I'm gonna sit on it for a couple days and then look back at it. Some times ideas are only great for the moment. Y'know whadda mean?

Until we meet again! In the next chapter...

Review! Yayyyyyy reviewssss

Oh yeah...and check out the song from the lyrics above if you haven't already heard of Laura Izibor. Phenomenal singer. Just...ugh...kill me now she's so good.


	21. Comparable Truths

_He broke my heart and now it's raining just to rub it in. I'm at your door. I feel so crazy 'bout it…A life perfect aint perfect if you don't know what the struggle's for. Falling down aint falling down if you dont cry when you hit the 's called the past 'cause Im getting past, and I aint nothing like I was before. You oughta see me now…Yes, I was burned but I called it a lesson learned. Mistake overturned so I called it a lesson learned. My soul has returned so I call it a lesson learned…another lesson learned…_

_Alicia Keys_

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It was about the fifteenth time that her eyes diverted to the doors of the Great Hall that Ginny decided she had to speak up and say something.

"Hermione, what in Merlin's good name is wrong with you?"

Hermione had been acting paranoid and jumpy all morning. Since she sat down to have breakfast, her eyes had been glued to the front door like a magnet. Preoccupying her attention so much that she had barely eaten anything.

"Hmm?" hummed Hermione absentmindedly as she almost dipped her eggs into her coffee mug instead of the side of ketchup sitting on the edge of her plate.

"You keep watching the door!" Ginny stretched her neck forward so that she could look her best friend in the face, squinting her eyes suspiciously as she scanned her features. "Did something happen last night?"

Unable to successfully hide her face from Ginny's accusatory glares, she slid her hands over her face which was now turning red with guilt. Not just any guilt either, _that_ kind of guilt. Ginny recognized it immediately as the 'walk of shame' guilt.

"No…Hermione…"

Hermione buried her face further her hands, but could keep herself room peeking out between her fingers at the door just in chase. Her heart was pounding so strong in her chest that she was surprised the entire Hall couldn't hear it as it palpitated up into her throat.

"He came to my room last night after you left," she admitted in a whisper.

"Malfoy?" Ginny whispered back.

She nodded, "Who else?"

Hermione finally lowered her hands back into her lap and Ginny pulled her chair in closer, eager for the juicy details. "So? What happened? Did you guys…talk?"

"Of course we did…he basically told me that he was going to love me regardless of what I did and that he didn't want to tiptoe around that anymore."

"How did you response to that?" Ginny tried to pull down the grin that was creeping into the edge of her lips.

"I caved."

"You didn't!?" Ginny did her best to gasp in surprise at hearing this, still fighting down the urge to smile. She was in, no way, surprised. She knew her best friend all too well. "So…what exactly do you mean by caved. How far did you go?" She was trying to get closer to the point that really mattered to nosey best friends who had been married for more than twenty years and had no shame in living vicariously through the raunchy escapades of other witches.

"I mean, at first I resisted everything…what he had said, my feelings, all of that…but then I was laying there unable to sleep and I couldn't help myself." Hermione began to blush again and found it difficult to look Ginny in the eyes. "I went down to his room and I…I guess you could say I lost myself," she confessed with her eyes still glued to the Great Hall door as if Draco would enter at this, as if on cue. He didn't.

Ginny bit back the urge to exclaim 'I knew it!' and quickly picked up on her friend's subtle body language hints. "I know why you look so guilty this morning," she figured out. "I mean besides from the obvious. You ditched him before he woke up didn't you?" Ginny called her out.

Hermione nodded her head in affirmation, looking even more guilty and ashamed at hearing it out loud.

"Ohhh, that's awkward. I mean, how are you feeling about it all today? Do you regret it?"

She shrugged and finally faced inward towards her friend. "I don't know. I mean, what does it mean if I don't?"

"That's up to you, Hun. You know that he's not my favorite person in the world and I don't think he ever will be, but from what I know about the two of you…if you're really in love then I don't think either of you can really help it. It's like opposite forces, there's no actual consent over whether or not they're drawn to each other. It just happens."

"You really think that applies to us?"

"Hermione, look at you. It's been almost twenty years and you're still not over him. What else can you call that?"

"Obsession?" she offered, throwing up her hands. "Delusion? Stupidity? Take your pick!"

Ginny gave her a 'cmon' look and shook her head. "You're not the obsessive type, you're not delusional, and you're certainly not stupid so where does that leave you?"

Hermione jumped suddenly as she noticed the Great Hall door open through her peripheral vision, but it was just a group of students coming in late for breakfast.

"Calm down. I'm sure he's not going to just burst in here and announce to their entire school that you two did it last night and you bailed out once the sun came up. I mean, really?"

"I feel so embarrassed. My feelings aside…what I did was so unprofessional."

"Shut up. Please, don't even go there. No one knows about it and no one will find out so it's not a big deal. Not to mention, there are far more unprofessional things that have occurred behind these walls, a lot worse than two teachers getting it on."

Hermione blushed furiously "We didn't technically 'get it on'…just for the record. We just fooled around in an adult manner."

"Mmhmm. Must have been pretty adult if you're still blushing about it this much."

Hermione didn't respond to that and tried to redirect the conversation away from her sexuality.

"I guess…I just feel like I've been down this road before and I never seem to learn my lesson," she said in frustration.

"You have to give yourself permission to make mistakes and to get over them. You never really do that with anything though, now do you? Just remember that there are worse things you could have done."

Hermione let out a gasp and practically rushed under the table as the doors opened again and Draco walked through them with a disappointed expression carved onto his face, a deep frown nestled in the center of it.

"He didn't see me did he?" whispered Hermione frantically.

"I don't think so. He's looking around though. I think he's trying to see if you're in here. Merlin, he looks sad…like a kicked puppy. What did you do to him?"

"Thanks Gin. That makes me feel so much better."

"Well, it's true."

"I gotta slip out of here without him seeing me," she said desperately.

"I'll go over and talk to him to give you diversion then. Why don't you slip out of here and go down to the quidditch pitch? Harry is going to be here soon to mentor the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He's really excited, been talking about it all week. Draco won't be able to find you there. As head of a house, he's not allowed to watch rival teams practice now is he?"

"Brilliant idea," said Hermione with a sigh of relief.

Ginny stood up from the table then and made her way towards Draco, making sure that her body was blocking Hermione's location as best she could.

"Potter? Weasley?" said Draco with a hint of confusion. He wasn't entirely sure what to call her.

Ginny gave off a casual shrug. "I answer to both at this point. Doesn't matter what you call me."

She laughed out awkwardly as if he had said something particularly funny and shifted to the right in order to block his view as he tried to look behind her. Draco looked back at her like something was wrong with her.

"Right. What can I do for you?" he sneered, trying to make it apparent that he was clearly not in the mood to be social that morning.

"Oh, I just wanted to see how things have been for you!" Ginny hadn't cared for his snide expression but did her best to ignore his rudeness by balancing his with an obviously chirpy demeanor. "Everyone making you feel welcomed? Your students are treating you alright?"

"Yes, I've been fine. I'm sorry but I'm in a bit of a rush," lied Draco ask he pushed past her and made his way up to the staff table, sure the Weasley/Potter was rolling her eyes behind him.

He had noticed that the center chair was empty when he came through the doors and figured that Hermione was trying to avoid him.

Draco looked up at the bright and sunny enchanted ceiling, grimacing with a gloomy contrast, and failed to notice as Hermione slipped past Ginny and successfully snuck out the double-doors.

/

"Really mom? What are you doing here?" Sophia asked as she walked onto the field with her broom in tow, the rest of her team following close behind her.

"Good morning to you too," said Hermione giving her daughter's attitude a disapproving look. "I just came to see Harry for a minute. Don't worry, I'm not following you."

"Sure, if you say so." Sophia slid her new gloves on, straddled her broom and kicked up into the sky to start warm up laps with the others.

Hermione took a seat in the stands and watched their practice. Harry showed up about halfway through their warm up and joined them in the air. He spent most of his time working with the Gryffindor seeker but had a few tips and pointers for the other players as well.

Her mind began to race again as she watched her daughter running drills in the sky. Before now, she hadn't allowed herself to think about it for years or even wonder in her moments of boredom…but with Draco being so close now, she couldn't help but question Sophia's paternity.

In the beginning, it had bothered her all the time, but she never had the courage to seek the truth. She hadn't wanted either man to be the father of Sophia and so she never pursued an answer.

However, it now seemed like the truth could make all the difference in the world. Right or wrong; if Draco turned out to be her father it would make her feel like she had permission to pursue her heart without guilt.

Then there was the alternative. If Ron turned out to be the biological father of Sophia, she felt like she would certainly have a break down; a serious one.

Of course, she would love her daughter unconditionally either way, but the idea of making something so wonderful with someone who had done such a terrible thing to her made her feel sick to her stomach. Just the thought of it made her feel upset.

As she sat in the stands, she couldn't help but compare the similarities that had always been in front of her. It was true that Sophia had a temper that reminded her constantly of Ron's, but she also had the attitude consistent with a Malfoy. One she had seen displayed time and time again throughout her school years with Draco.

It unsettled her that Sophia shared Ron's instance fear of spiders, but, when she thought about it, she didn't honestly think that phobias could be inherited. At best, it had to be a coincidence, or perhaps a learned fear she had picked up from growing up around the Burrow and most of the Weasley family.

Hermione smiled to herself as she reflected on Sophia's deep love for flying and quidditch. A passion that she knew Draco shared. They both demonstrated pristine flying skill and exuberated great confidence when playing. Although Ron also loved quidditch, he had never presented the same natural grace for it like Draco or Sophia. He had started out as an incredibly clumsy flyer an easily flustered player who had spent years to acquire his abilities.

She continued to tick off comparisons in her mind. Sophia was certainly proud like Draco, but easily frustrated like Ron and quick to anger. That smirk of hers reminded her constantly of Draco, but her laugh was so similar to Ron's and a few of the other Weasley family members. The laugh was another feature she could have picked up at the Burrow though.

Then there was Landen…They had always acted like brother and sister, ever since she was a small child. Hermione always wondered if their friendship was an example of natural pull; a subconscious knowledge that were made as a match someone else, like estranged siblings who see each other for the first time and just know that they are related without needing to be told.

Sophia had stopped asking about her father around her third year at the age of thirteen. The topic used to come up everyone now and then, and always resulted in a fight between them. Then one day she stopped asking. It was after a particularly nasty fight that Hermione didn't like to think about if she didn't have to.

Hermione knew that Sophia had eventually come to the realization that her if her father knew about her, then he didn't seem to care enough to look for her or come forward. If her father didn't know about her existence then he probably had his own life established that included a wife and other kids. How would she ever fit into it his life now without ruining it?

It broke Hermione's heart to know that she felt this way. Constantly, she reminded herself that it was best that neither of them knew the truth, in the long run anyway. Besides, Sophia had so many people in her life who loved her. There was no shortage of family, so why would she need a father?

After practice ended she made her way down to the field and waved Harry over to her.

"Hermione! Hey! What'd you think of practice?" Harry set his broom down and pulled her into a hug.

"The team looks great and they seemed really excited to be working with you."

"Yeah, well, I was excited to work with them. Any excuse to get on a broom these days right?" he said with a wink.

"I supposed," she agreed with the polite chuckle.

A light rain started to patter down onto the field so they followed the team inside.

"Do you have to leave right away?"

"Not unless some kind of emergency comes up at work. I told them I'd be gone for the rest of the day."

"Brilliant, how about we head up to my office then?"

Harry followed up behind as they made their way into the castle. Once they made it to the Headmistress's office he plopped down in the chair across from her desk and made himself comfortable while she conjured up two steaming mugs of cider for them to drink.

"You know, even after all this time, I still think of this as being Dumbledore's office," noted Harry as he looked around the room.

"To tell you the truth so do I." Hermione agreed with a laugh. "I don't think I could ever come close to filling his shoes though."

"You're both brilliant in different ways. Don't underestimate yourself."

"Yes, well…that's very sweet of you to say." Hermione shrugged like it was no big deal and took a deep drink.

"I was talking to Ginny for a little bit before I came out to the Quidditch pitch. She told me that you're having a hard day, and that I should be extra nice to you today. What's going on?"

"I just have a lot on my mind," she said, trying to dismiss the topic that she had known was bound to come up. She wondered with Ginny had told Harry already, knowing that he had despised Draco more than most people.

"Wanna talk about it?" he pressed.

"I don't know that you'll be very happy with me if I do."

"What do you mean? Did something happen?" he leaned in.

Hermione decided she may as well be honest. Why hide anymore?

"What do you think about Draco? Do you think he's changed?"

Harry set his mug down on her desk and moved his chair in closer so he could have a more intimate conversation with his confused friend. He looked up at her with a stern expression, pausing for a dramatic moment while he assured himself that he had her full attention.

"Don't go down that road again," he stated plainly.

"Harry, please, just answer the question seriously." She rolled her eyes.

Harry looked like her father when he was about to lecture her. "I am being serious."

"Look, you've met with him and you've seen his progress. Don't you think it's possible that he's changed from the man he was before? When he was a deatheater? Or do you think he's always been that cruel person on the inside and that he's just trying in vain to be something different?"

"I think that it doesn't matter. It won't ever change what he did and you know that."

"I get that, but I _was_ in love with him once Harry. I know that you hate to address that."

"Precisely. You _were_ in love with him. Past tense. You're not in love with him anymore," he said stubbornly.

Hermione look down into her cup, diverting her eyes from him, and didn't respond.

"You're not. Right? Hermione?" Harry dipped his head down and tried to get her to look at him. "Hermione…"

She looked up at him with a torn confusion clouding her large brown eyes. "I don't know what I am right now."

"Does Sophia know what he did? About your grandparents? Does she even know what Draco was?" asked Harry. It was apparent that he was starting to feel angry at the prospect of his good friend still being in love with one of his least favorite people.

"No, she doesn't. She knows that her real grandparents were muggles and that they were killed shortly after the war. I never admitted to her that it was murder and I've never told her the details of their deaths."

"Are you sure Ron's kid hasn't told her? Besides both of his parents knowing the truth, it is public knowledge you know. They'd be able to find out what happened if they decided to do the research."

She had thought of that before and had counted herself lucky that the topic had never come up. "If Landen knows what happened from Ron telling him, then he never shared the truth with her. As far as Draco's past goes…she's never said anything to me. None of the students have. For the most part, they all like him and I don't think it's occurred to any of them to investigate."

Harry leaned back into his chair and folded his arms disapprovingly. "Well, if you let yourself do this again I can assure you that she will find out the truth about him. What will she think when she finds out her mother is in love with a former deatheater? Hmm? One that was involved in the death of her grandparents, no less?"

"I know," she strained. "I've thought about that before Harry. Believe me, I have, but I can't just pretend that I don't have these feelings anymore."

Harry was at a loss for words. "Honestly, I don't know what to tell you Hermione," he said with a shrug of indifference. "If you let Draco back in, then I think you're going to get seriously hurt again. Whatever you decide to do, just make sure you're incredibly careful. If he breaks your heart again I'll put him back in Azkaban myself."

She knew that Harry was sincerely upset about all this but didn't take his threat seriously. "I don't think that will be necessary. If I get hurt again, it'll be on me this time. Fool me once, right?"

Harry was one of the few wizards who knew this expression from his muggle upbringing. "I guess so," he agreed then changed the topic.

After Harry left, Hermione stayed in her office thinking over her next move. She thought about her future at Hogwarts. She thought about her heart, and whether or not she could ever really be happy with if she allowed herself to be with Draco again. Mostly, she thought about Sophia and what would be best for her.

Eventually she came to the decision that the truth was always the best solution. Even if the truth hurt her, at least she would be able to live with herself.

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A/N: Oh man, my last chapter had a lot of typos and errors. Super sorry about that. I promise never to edit after midnight again. I read over my chapters multiple times before I post, I honestly do. It's just that when you write something yourself, there is a tendency to fill in the blanks and mistakes in your head without noticing that they're still incorrect "on paper". I tell myself that I'm eventually going to comb through all my stories and make corrections...but let's be realistic. That's probably not going to happen. lol So, I will just make an effort to be better from here on out!

Thanks again for reading and reviewing!


	22. An Unbearable Trauma

_I met a prophet dark as the night. She could see into my soul. Said she'd been watching and had some advice. She said shadows make you whole. A life without pain is a wolf in sheep's clothes; cause if you listen to the lessons that it holds, you'll find the gold…__Courage is not being hard. It's time to peel back all of the layers…__It's time to break the shell. Life's gonna hurt but it's meant to be felt…_

_India Arie_

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It was the weekend so Draco didn't bother getting out of bed to go to breakfast. If Hermione wanted her space then he was going to give it to her.

He didn't blame her for running of the morning after their sudden night of affection. He hadn't expected it to happen and just felt grateful that it had. If he wanted to be empathetic, he could understand her fear and hesitation. It wasn't like he was angry, just a little disappointed. Besides, it wasn't the first time she'd ditched him like this.

After sleeping in till mid-morning, he figured he might as well bathe at the very least. That way he could think he'd accomplished something mildly productive that day. He didn't feel like doing much else. Perhaps he'd go flying to shake off his thoughts and feelings for an hour or too. Maybe not.

After taking a long and meditative shower, Draco walked out of the bathroom, still drying his hair on a towel, when he noticed a school owl perched on his windowsill. He pulled the towel down from his head and wrapped it around his waist, just in case the owl was feeling peckish, and cautiously approached it. He'd never been a fan of interacting with animals in the near nude.

The owl hooted impatiently at Draco, as if he'd been waiting a long time for him to get out of the shower, and extended its claw for him to retrieve the note.

He unraveled the tiny roll of parchment and had to read the note twice, three, four times over before he let himself believe it was real.

It was from Hermione. She wanted him to come by her office so they could talk.

He felt a mix of emotions; nervous that they were going to speak again, irritated that she had ditched him then had the audacity to bid him at her will, but mostly excited to see her beautiful face.

Just as he made for the door, the owl hooted out disapprovingly.

"Right, clothes…need those, don't I?" said Draco as he realized he was still basically naked.

The old hooted again.

Wrong.

"Oh. Sorry." Draco quickly searched for his misplaced bag of owl treats under the watchful eye of his impatient feathered companion.

"Aha! Got 'em!"

Draco threw down a small handful of treats, more than the owl could handle in just a short span of time.

The owl was still snacking on its goldmine of treats when Draco finished throwing on a shirt. "Just don't take your time, alright? Scram as soon as you're done."

The owl hooted passively, threw back its neck and swallowed another treat.

/

The door to Hermione's office was open he arrived.

She was standing, waiting for him anxiously, beside her desk.

"Thanks for coming."

"Did you think that I wouldn't?"

"For a minute I got nervous," she admitted.

"I was in the shower when your owl arrived."

"Oh."

Draco invited himself to take a seat in front of her.

"Are you upset with me?" she timidly asked, still standing.

"No. I understand why you left."

"I just…I wasn't thinking the other night."

"I know. I told you to not to think, remember? I wanted you to lose yourself and just go with what you felt and that's what you did."

"Still…" she bit down on her bottom lip nervously. "I feel bad that I just abandoned you. When I woke up in your arms like that…like nothing had changed…it was just all too much to take in and I got scared.

"It wasn't like I was expecting you to wake up and cuddle lovingly in my arms all morning. I know that things don't fix themselves that easily."

Hermione looked as though she were fighting back tears as she looked up towards the ceiling with her eyes blinking rapidly.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sick of crying," she apologized as she stomped her foot down on the floor and growled in frustration, clearly angry with herself.

"It's okay. You don't need to be sorry."

"It's just that…" her voice was breaking as her throat tightened and she began to lose the battle against her tears. "I have so much pain surrounding my heart…and addressing it is like melting away a protective case of ice that I've maintained for years…and it's so painful," as she said this, she pressed a shaking hand against her chest as though her heart physically hurt.

"Whoever said healing wasn't painful? Sometimes it can be harder to get through the healing process than it was the initial injury."

Draco couldn't bear to stay seated any longer as the woman he loved wept before him. He got up and pulled her into his arms without waiting for her consent. She didn't move away, and cried desperately onto his shoulder; a cry so deep that it made her entire body shudder with sorrow/

"I know that I hurt you, but I don't think I realized how much. Seeing you break down like this…it makes my own heart break. Really, it does. When you feel pain, I feel it too because of how I feel about you. I don't want to cause you anymore turmoil so maybe it would be better if I left and-"

"No! I don't want you to leave. That's the last thing I want." She looked up with him with pleading, tear glossed eyes.

The reaction was unavoidable. Her aching heart fluttered slightly as she finally allowed herself to get lost in the endlessness of his consoling grey eyes. It had been so long since she had looked at him like this. There was concern shining in them and an evident, deep love that made her heart ache a little less. She found herself not wanting to leave the comfort of his arms and clung onto his shoulders as he pulled her in tighter.

"Then I won't leave," he promised, whispering into her ear through the thick bed of curls cascading onto his shoulder. "As long as you need me I will be here for you."

"I know that you mean that."

For a moment they held onto the reverence of their connection in silence as his hand gently brushed through her hair in an effort to soothe and calm her down. It was working. Gradually, the tears stopped and her breathing evened out, but the tremble remained.

"Draco, I know that there is a part of me that still loves you…"

He couldn't believe that she had admitted it and was hesitant to believe his own ears. Without realizing it, he held onto his breath as she continued to speak.

"…but you have to understand that I don't know how to allow that part of me to come through anymore. There is so much in the way of the love I feel for you that…"

She never finished her sentence because Draco kissed her halfway between her last few words, pulling her tightly against his body as if she would fly away if he didn't.

Without a thought, her arms moved up to wrap themselves around his neck, and she kissed him back, deeply, and without fear for the first time.

"I love you Hermione," breathed Draco as soon as their kiss separated. "Nothing will ever change that. Never. I don't care what's standing in the way of you loving me. I know that we can make it past that. We've survived so much already. Both of us have lost it all before, and yet we're still standing."

"It's not just the death of my parents, or your involvement with it, that's eating away at me though," she protested, but remained in his arms. "You don't understand. There are other reasons for this pain that you can't help me fix."

"What do you mean? What else is going on?" His brow was furrowed in confusion, and his eyes were thick with worry. What else, or who else, could have hurt her so much that she was still suffering from the pain of it?

"You asked me before about Sophia…" she couldn't bring herself to face him any longer as she brought up the reason she had asked him there. To Draco's disappointment, she pulled away from his embrace, and looked down shamefully to the floor.

"Sophia?" Draco repeated as he braced himself and tried to ready himself for what she was about to tell him next. He couldn't believe she was actually going to talk to him about her. Now that she was, he didn't know who prepared he was to hear the truth.

Hermione was still avoiding his eyes as she admitted, "The truth is that I don't know whether or not you're her father."

Draco let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. "That's fine. We can always find out."

"I don't know if I want to."

He didn't understand that. "Why wouldn't you want to? Hermione, we can find out right now. Just ask her to come up here. I can make the potion and we can know in just a few hours."

His heart was racing in anticipation.

"I can't let you do that," her voice was shaking, and her eyes were fleeting about the room as if she had been terrified. "I feel like…Oh Draco…If it's not you…I think I would fall apart. I wouldn't be able to handle the alternative. I just can't! I know I couldn't."

She looked genuinely horrified at the prospect of someone else being Sophia's father as she said this. Her face went pale and she began biting down into her lip again.

"Hermione, what is the alternative?" he asked carefully as he slowly re-approached her.

She broke down before she could answer, overwrought with emotion. She nearly collapsed to the floor as her knees gave out but Draco had been ready to catch her. He tried to hold her again, but she backed away and wouldn't let him touch her.

She had never admitted, to anyone, what had happened between her and Ron on that fateful night. It seemed too unbearable to admit the truth of what had happened out loud.

"Ron…." The name was all she managed to get out through her crying at first. She braced herself on the edge of the desk and searched inwardly for the courage to continue her terrible admission.

"Ron?" Draco took a step away from her. He didn't mean to, but it was almost reflex that had made him want to put some distance between himself and that name. Especially after the way she had said it. It had been in the same way people used to force out He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, as if a name could hold trauma and hurt them if they focused on it too long. "What do you mean Ron?"

Then he remembered how he'd seen the red-headed git at the Quidditch game, and how he'd wondered if it were possible…but he never really wanted to believe it was plausible.

"I thought he was married? When did you…?"

"I didn't," she bared through gritted teeth, and she finally looked at him. Her eyes were burning in anger with hot furious tears blanketed over her haunted chestnut eyes. "He made me."

"What?" It took Draco a moment to process what she had said and what it really meant.

"He made you?" he repeated in a haze, his eyes slightly widening in shock and disbelief at what he'd just heard.

Draco watched helplessly as Hermione collapsed into her chair, sobbing relentlessly, and saw clearly just how much she was hurting. Even after the terrible events he'd witnessed in Azkaban, the pain she was enduring seemed infallible. It had been ages since he'd heard a woman wailing in torment like this. It pained and infuriated him to know that the woman he loved most was feeling that kind of agony.

"Do you mean to tell me that Weasley raped you?" Draco growled protectively as anger shot through him like a bullet from a gun. He wanted her to say that he had misunderstood her and that she was going to explain what she had really meant, that his ears were mistaken.

The idea of any man, but especially Ron Weasley, touching Hermione without her permission made him wild with a kind of anger he had never known before.

"Honestly I…I don't know."

"I don't understand. What do you mean you don't know? You were there, weren't you?" Immedietly he bit back his lip after he said this, as he realized how harsh it had sounded. "

"Look, I was drunk…I was so far gone that he couldn't have possibly known that I didn't want to…"

"Don't make excuses for him. There's nothing that could ever justify that Hermione. If you didn't want to, then he had no right!" A rage like nothing he had ever felt before coursed through him and he began to shake with fury. He violently shut his eyes and tried his best to calm himself down, breathing in deeply with quivering breath. Even though his eyes were closed, he could feel Hermione's fragile eyes watching him with fear; unsure of what he was going to do next.

As soon as he was once again level, and relatively calm, he spoke again. "If I hadn't been in Azkaban, I could have protected you. I should have been there for you." It panged him to say it.

She frantically shook her head and stood up in protest to his statement. "No, you couldn't. I started the whole thing Draco."

She could see that he was going to interrupted her but stopped him before he got the chance. "No. Listen to me. It was the war anniversary and I got upset…I went to my parents' house and I broke down." She didn't want to add that part of the reason she was so upset was that he'd been locked up, and potentially make him feel that it was somehow his fault that the rape had occurred. Draco was burdened with enough guilt already. "I didn't tell anyone where I was going and they went looking for me after they noticed I was missing from both of my engagements."

It was difficult for Draco to listen. Part of him didn't want to hear this and have the image of Weasley raping the woman he loved seared into his mind forever. He realized that this must be how Hermione felt about his involvement in Blaise's crime. It was a terribly helpless feeling.

"Ron was the one who found me. Only because he knew where my parents had lived. I had taken him there before when we were together." As Hermione spoke, she watched as Draco's fist clenched into a ball and released over and over again.

"I knew that he wasn't really over me and that his marriage with Janessa was shaky at the time…but I never thought he would act on those feelings…" She paused with a haunted look in her eyes, as if she were simultaneously reliving that night as she spoke about it, and turned her focus down to the floor near Draco's feet. "I couldn't get him off of me because I was so drunk…I could barely hold myself up, I was so gone…and so I wasn't able to make it clear to him that I didn't want to…" she swallowed roughly, but was unable to finish her sentence. It was unnecessary for her to, he had understood exactly what happened next.

It was unfortunate but, in that moment, Draco was positive he was going straight back to Azkaban. The moment he found Ron he was going to kill him. There was no doubt in his mind.

"I know that he thinks I wanted it and I've never confronted him about what happened. I don't want to. I just want to move on and live my life-"

"He doesn't deserve to be breathing free air, Hermione," he fiercely protested.

"I doesn't matter…I don't think it would do any good to bring it to light now. Not after all this time. Besides, I don't know, he might have given me the greatest gift I've ever known…Sophia."

Draco felt queasy at hearing this.

Hermione noticed him grimace but went on with her story anyway. "I was drinking through a good portion of my pregnancy, because I didn't know that I was pregnant. As a result, Sophia was born early and we almost didn't make it. Ron didn't know that I had loved you and so he assumed he was the only one I'd been with. So he's always believed that Sophia is his daughter and I've never confirmed or denied it."

"So if he thinks that then why isn't he here helping you?"

"He made it clear to me that he didn't want to jeopardize his marriage, but helped me out financially. It's been this twisted agreement silently confirming that he expects me to keep what happened between us a secret. I would never have accepted any of his money if I didn't have to! My savings had depleted shortly after I restarted my life with Sophia and I hadn't yet built up my salary as a teacher. I didn't feel like I had a choice so I just took the money he offered and kept my mouth shut. I never wanted him to be heavily involved anyway. I didn't want him in my life at all."

"Filth," spat Draco in disgust and felt like he was going to explode or be sick. Possibly both.

"I've kept it a secret up until now. I've never told anyone. Sophia doesn't even know that he could be her father, and until you started working here she didn't know you existed. As far as she knows, her father is some mystery stranger that she'll never know."

"Hermione, I'm so sorry that happened to you. You never deserved any of this and if you want me to, I will kill Ron with my bare hands because Merlin knows he deserves it! I have to know though. If there's any chance Sophia could be mine than I have to find out!" Draco passionately insisted.

"What will happen if she's not though? I'll have to come to terms with having had the child of the man who raped me! I'd never be able to share that with her! I'd rather her have no knowledge of her father than risk that. Which is what I'm doing."

"I can't just do nothing now that I know…" He shook his head apologetically.

It made sense that Hermione was trying to protect herself and Sophia from the terrible possible-truth about Ron, but Draco wasn't ready to make the assumption that the worst-case scenario was actual reality. Not without testing the prospect that Sophia could be his daughter and not Ron's.

"I need you to leave it alone Draco," she pleaded. "Please! It was hard enough to tell you the truth after keeping it to myself all this time! Understand that, please!"

"I understand that Hermione. Believe me I do! I'm glad you opened up finally, especially to me, but I can't obey your wishes with this. Not this time."

It was Hermione who looked like she might be ill now.

"If you didn't want me to find out the truth, then why tell me? I don't think we have the right to just leave this be any longer. It's about more than just you and me now."

"I mean it Draco. If it turns out that he's Sophia father…I'm going to fall apart. I'm going to fucking break! I can't live with that. I cannot!"

"If it turns out that Ron is Sophia's father, then we just won't tell her. I'll be here for the both of you either way."

"If you mean that, then it doesn't really matter who her biological father is. Just leave it alone Draco, please. Please!"

Draco didn't respond this time. He just went up to her and pulled her tightly into his arms. She clung onto him desperately and started to cry again.

It was apparent that Hermione was traumatized by what had happened to her and was now terrified of what the truth may hold, but Draco knew that he couldn't just leave this alone.

If Sophia was his daughter then he was going to claim her as his and be there for her, just like he wanted to be there for Hermione. Nothing was going to get in the way of that, especially not Ron Weasley.

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A/N: I rewrote this chapter like three times before I finally pushed myself to edit and upload it. Otherwise I'd never be able to get on with this story! Sometimes an idea is so specific in your mind that you have absolutely no idea how to write it! I hope that I did justice to the event anyway. I dunno, lemme know what you think.

A few things.

-I was asked if the Bridges Writer's Challenge is still going on. It is! It will be going on as long as I'm still writing PUTP. If you want to know what the Challenge is, just go to my profile page for details.

-Secondly, if you are looking for some quality Dramione to read (in-between my updates of course ;)) I do have a community page called 'Best Dramione According To A Dramione Expert' There is a tab to that on my profile page. I am adding various Dramione authors to the staff so that they can make recommendations to high-quality Dramione they have stumbled on here at FF. It can be so hard to find a good story sometimes! I'm currently reading Cruel and Beautiful by Lena Phoria

-Third. I have another WIP Dramione called On The Run. I just updated it if you wanna check it out and review. My plotline for that story is more fluid and under-construction. I am taking ideas and suggestions if anyone is open to proving me with some feedback.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

See you next chapter!


	23. Impact

_I kept thinkin' I could never see this day, it seemed so far away…It's so funny how quick things can change…Don't wanna make the same mistakes over and over again 'cause my dreams ain't that much farther. I won't give up without a fight. I'ma reach for the sky, try 'till I get it right so I can see the day when I can have things my way. I'ma start all over, things are getting closer…feels like I've already won._

_Janelle Monae_

.

Draco double, then triple-checked his stores to verify he had all the ingredients he would need later that day before heading up to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Today was the day of the highly anticipated Gryffindor vs Slytherin quidditch game. It had been made aware to everyone that the Slytherin had been practicing extensively just so that they could redeem themselves from their last game against Gryffindor house. They would be bringing out their best efforts today and it was bound to be an eventful game regardless of who would actually win.

Hermione eyed Draco suspiciously as he entered the Great Hall and approached Sophia. Her heart caught in her throat as she watched her daughter's face from afar and tried to gauge what Draco might be telling her.

Part of her wanted to rush out from her chair and interrupt their interaction. She refrained from doing this and reminded herself that he may just be wishing her good luck in today's game and not talking about the possibility of him being her father at all. Still, she watched them carefully.

"Excited for the game?" asked Draco as he walked up to Sophia.

"Of course. I love taking any chance to pulverize the Slytherin team," said Sophia confidently with an arrogant smirk as she turned around in the bench to face him.

"I think you may be surprised at what you find out there today. My team has been working really hard lately. You might want to second-guess that confidence," he teased.

"Nah, I don't think so. It doesn't matter how hard you work if you naturally suck, now does it?" retorted Sophia with a cocky jerk of her head, earning a few laughs from her surrounding friends.

Draco couldn't help but think that it was a very Malfoy-like response, but bit his tongue from mentioning that out loud.

"So your gloves have been working well for you I take it?"

Sophia pulled the Quidditch gloves out of her pocket and laid them out on the table. "Like a dream. You may even regret getting them for me when we win today."

He patted her lightly on the shoulder. "If you say so. Good lucky today Sophia."

"Thanks Professor."

As Sophia turned back towards the table, Draco purposefully knocked her gloves onto the floor.

"Sorry about that!" he cried as he made to pick them up, moving slowly as he did so.

"No, it's okay. I got them." Sophia bent over, reached out, and grabbed the gloves before he was able to make contact with them. As she did so, Draco stealthily plucked a hair out from her head without her noticing. He felt grateful that she was still wearing it down so that her curly hair was out and easy to grab.

As he did this, he could feel Hermione's watchful eyes no him from the staff table but knew she couldn't have possibly seen what he'd done from that distance.

"See ya after we win today, Professor," concluded Sophia after she'd retrieved her gloves. She slid them onto her hands for dramatic effect as if she were about to leave for the game in that moment.

Draco chuckled and shook his head. "Sure, we'll see about that."

He made his way over to the Slytherin table next where his team was grouped up and talking about the upcoming game with agitation and excitement; psyched up and confidant that they were going to win. Draco had always thought it was a bad idea to celebrate prematurely. It jinxed the outcome, but he wasn't going to say anything to lower their spirits.

"What were you talkin' to her for, Professor?" asked Gregory Makins, their fourth year chaser.

"I don't really think that's any of your business," shot back Draco.

"It's not," interjected Joshua Karver, the team captain. "It's just weird that the head of our house would be talking to a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team the day of the big game is all. Makes people talk, don't it?"

"I'm a teacher here Karver," explained Draco condescendingly. "If I want to talk to one of my students, then I'll do so. Don't concern yourself with what I'm doing. You should be focused on how you're going to play later today."

"Oh, we're not worried," he said smugly. "We're all feeling pretty good. They're not going to stand a chance." He looked across the hall and glowered, "Gryffindor scum!"

Most of the team failed to hear the insult of the bustle of the Great Hall, but the Gryffindor Keeper, Evan, had heard him and responded to his call with a crude hand gesture.

"That's good to hear. I hope that's true. Mind yourself that you don't earn a penalty before game even starts. No need to provoke a team that you don't consider a threat is there?"

Joshua just scowled and returned to his breakfast. "Sure…," he muttered. "If you say so."

Draco placed his hand on the shoulder of the girl sitting closest to him. "Santon, can I have a word please?"

Emily Santon perked up, surprised that he was addressing her directly. Emily was a 6th year student, and one of the three Slytherin Chasers.

She roughly swallowed the bite she had been chewing. "Me?"

"You're the only Santon at this table aren't you Emily?"

"Y-yeah, sure thing Professor Malfoy," she sputtered, wiping her hands on a napkin. She stood up and made to follow Draco out of the Hall.

Emily was incredibly tall for a girl, with strong and defined arm muscles. She towered over most of her teammates with an intimidating presence, as well as Draco. He could guess why she was so effective as a quidditch player. There was often a hesitation to be as aggressive with female players as male players. Even though Emily had a very muscular build, which was evident once you approached her but not as defined from afar, she had a fair face and was moderately beautiful. It was deceiving to anyone who might think she might not be an aggressive player…but she was and Draco knew this from having watched her practice.

He led Emily out of the Great Hall and to a discreet corner adjacent to the main hallway so that they could talk privately and without interruption.

/

There was one hour remaining before the start of the game.

It was just enough time for Draco to finish prepping the potion he was working on.

He wiped his brow, fervently stirring the fish egg paste he was working on faster so that it whipped into a cream like substance. It gave off a horrific stench but he didn't care, there wasn't enough time to get distracted.

He carefully spooned the smelly substance into the boiling cauldron in front of him and watched, satisfied, as the texture began to thin out. He reached for his shaker of moonstone dust and added a few extra shakes for good measure, and watched as the concoction turned perfectly still as it began to transition to a transparent state The potion resembled diamonds shimming just below the surface of clear water. With a mesmerizing lure, the potion awaited the final step.

Draco held his breath and retrieved the long strand of hair from his pocket, then carefully lowered it into the cauldron. The potion gladly received it and began to boil rapidly. It no longer held it's thin, clear like state, but turned thick in a way that resembled the paste he had churned earlier.

Next, he reached his hand up to his head, yanked a few blonde hairs out, and then sprinkled them carefully into the mix. The paste started to spin wildly about the cauldron as if the matter had developed a life of its own.

If the hairs received were from the same family line, the potion would resolve itself and settle back into a calm, beautiful, water-like state.

If, however, the hairs were not related, the thick potion would deflate itself and transform into a rubber like mess that would settle disappointingly to the bottom of the cauldron.

This process took anywhere from one to three hours to complete. He was fortunate that he would have the game available to distract him instead of anxiously waiting about his office for the time to pass.

/

Draco scowled across the stands as the crowd took their seats. Weasley was there again, just like he had anticipated he would be. A flash of anger shot through him as he watched his stupid face smiling and laughing with his son. This time he recognized Landen who was sitting right next to his father. Luckily, Landen was placed between Ron and Hermione this time; which made Draco feel a little better, but not much.

The flight instructor, Professor Oliver Rivers, gathered both of the teams to the center of the pitch. They mounted their brooms and waited, tensely, for his signal that the game had begun.

The determined glares of each team formed a thick intensity that could be felt all the way up into the stands. It was bound to be a heated game.

Professor Rivers blew his whistle and the teams shot up into the air as the balls were released. Immediately Sophia whooped down, with rocket like speed, and obtained possession of the quaffle. She gripped it tightly under arm and started towards the Slytherin goals, her other hand clinging securely to her broom handle with the assistance of her new gloves.

Isaac Karver, for once doing something without the instruction of his older brother, clumsily attempted to hit her with a bludger but missed his target by an embarrassing distance. A disappointed groan could be heard from the Slytherin stands.

The team captain, Joshua Karver flew by his brother, yelling profanities at him, as he raced after the bludger in an attempt to keep it away from the Gryffindor beaters before they were able to use it against the Slytherin team.

Sophia weaved between two of the Slytherin chasers, and sped towards the goal post. Sam Yates, a 5th year Slytherin Chaser increased his speed and intercepted her by blocking her path, flying directly in front of her. It hadn't matter though. Hardly anyone noticed that she'd already passed the quaffle by dropping it down to Genevieve who then outmaneuvered the Slytherin keeper and made the goal of the game.

The Gryffindor team went wild. Draco spotted Ron jumping out of his seat, punching his fist in the air triumphantly, and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Sophia flew by her friends and family as they positioned their next play. No one else noticed as Landen winked at her as she flew by, causing her to grin like an idiot. To anyone else watching her, she just seemed happy about the goal her team had just made. The truth was that when Landen smiled at her like that, she felt like she could fly without a broom.

Her daze was quickly interrupted by a bludger spinning fiercely past her face, almost hitting her. "Oi!" she yelled out angrily and whipped around to see both Karver brothers laughing as they sped off after the bludger so that they could shoot it again.

"Let it go!" warned Richard, one of the Gryffindor beaters as he past her on his way to trail them. "We don't need a repeat of the last game!"

Sophia huffed as the anger she was feeling rose up to her face. She shook it off as best she could and sped off to assist Rachel with the next play. This time the quaffle was blocked by the Slytherin Keeper Terrance Davenport, who looked incredibly proud of himself.

"Oh wow," mocked Sophia. "Davenport did something right! Let's all freak out and have a bloody celebration!"

"Bugger of Granger! You're gonna get what's comin to you!" he threatened.

"Doubt it," she said with a sneer as she hovered above him. Before Davenport realized what was happening, Genevieve had passed Rachel the quaffle who then slammed it through one of the hoops before Terrance could act in an attempt to defend it.

Embarrassed that he'd allowed himself to be distracted, he gnarled his teeth in anger and paid better attention to his post as Sophia flew away laughing.

His anger caused him to become sloppy and flustered. Without much trouble, Sophia was able to regain possession of the quaffle and score three more goals, one right after the other. Davenport looked murderous as she continued to mock him and score because of it.

Draco smirked from his seat as he watched her make the next goal. Looking across the stands for a quick moment, he caught Hermione staring at him. As soon as she realized he was watching her, she shot her head back in the direction of the Gryffindor goal. He couldn't help it as his smirk grew larger knowing that they were probably thinking the same exact thing. It had been a very Malfoy-like play she had just performed and they both knew it.

The game took a sudden turn as the Slytherin team started to catch up in points, to the dismay of Evan, the Gryffindor Keeper. He had been overly confidant at the start of the game; focusing more on showing off his new moves than actually protecting his goal post. But now he was focused and knocking the quaffle away from nearly every attempt made by the Slytherin Chasers.

The game was heating up. Sophia, Rachel, and Genevieve were in the zone and functioning like one unit as they zigzagged back and forth between the Slytherin chasers and dodged the bludger again and again. Within twenty minutes they had nearly doubled their score, to the embarrassment of the entire Slytherin Quidditch team. Draco was pretty sure he was the only person in the Slytherin stands who was smiling about this, but he kept it on the inside of course.

It was a surprise to him that he had remained so calm. He had expected to feel incredibly nervous as he watched the game and waited for the results of his potion. Contrary to that expectation, he was actually feeling cool, confidant, and was enjoying the game immensely. Especially when Olivia, the Gryffindor seeker, spotted the snitch and dove after it with a speeding fury. The Slytherin seeker, Lana, went after it as well but was significantly further away from the snitch than Olivia was.

The attention didn't stay on the seekers for every long, however.

Emily Santon, the Slytherin Chaser that Draco had been talking to in the Great Hall, was hovering over the Gryffindor stands and shouting very personal, and mocking obscenities directed at the Gryffindor beaters.

"Still feel like letting it go?" poked Sophia as Emily made a particularly nasty comment about Richard's mother.

Richard's ears were turning red with humiliation. "You know what Granger? You're right. Screw it. We're up enough points that we're gonna win anyway. What's a little penalty to us now?"

"That's the spirit!" Sophia patted Richard on the back before he zoomed towards the bludger with increasing speed, which was zipping towards Olivia in a last-ditch effort to keep her from obtaining the snitch and winning the game.

With a forceful arm, he violently swung his mallet and successfully redirected it so that it headed straight towards Emily Santon.

Emily gripped her broom and leaned in as the bludger started to head towards her. To the surprise of the entire crowd, the second before it was expected to make impact with her, she shot up into the air and the bludger hurled forward into the crowd. Out of all the people in attendance, the bludger somehow managed to slam straight into the center of Ron Weasley's face.

Hermione and Landen both screamed and jumped out of their seats as it made contact. At the same time, Olivia gripped her hands around the snitch and won the game.

The Gryffindor team went crazy and no one noticed as Emily slipped her wand back into her pocket and flew off as if she had done nothing wrong. No one would ever know that she had purposely redirected the bludger towards an assigned target, in return for higher marks in potions for the remainder of the year, 50 house points and a generous handful of galleons.

Draco clasped his hands over his mouth in disbelief that she'd actually done it. He was completely gleeful as Ron's face turned as red as his hair, blood spurting out onto the front of his robes. The bludger had smashed through his nose, clearly causing it to break in more than one place.

"Omg! Ron!" Ginny had screamed as she watched her brother bleed uncontrollably.

"Dad!?" Landen was torn between concern for his father and a feeling of overwhelming happiness that his girlfriend's team had just won the game.

"Fuck! That thing broke my fucking face!" he bellowed. Hermione jumped back to avoid being bled on as Ron turned his head towards her.

"C'mon Ron. Let's get you to the hospital wing. You're already turning pale. Give me a hand Harry? I can't believe this! Are you alright Hermione? It didn't get you too did it?" asked Ginny as she made her way towards her brother, her husband following close behind.

Ron was leaning against his son's shoulder, his face was turning a clammy-white.

"No. It didn't. Just scared the hell out of me is all," she replied honestly and stepped back to make room for Ginny and Harry to get through, a look of shock plastered on all of their faces

"Hermione, can you do one of your healing spells or something to slow down the bleeding? Just to help him out until we can get him to the hospital wing?" asked Harry as he took Ron's arm away from Landen and placed it around his shoulder.

Hermione patted down her pockets and couldn't resist the lie that flew from her lips. "Shit! I think I felt my wand in my office again! Merlin…I'm such an idiot Harry!"

"You can use my wand if you want."

She grimaced, "I don't want to risk doing more damage. I'm not used to using someone else's wand Harry. You know how badly that can turn out."

Harry sighed then shrugged his shoulders in understanding. Ron winced dramatically, which only caused his face to hurt more.

"I'm so sorry Ron. Just hang in there. The hospital wing isn't that far," consoled Hermione half-heartedly.

Ron looked like he was going to pass out as he groaned in pain. "I feel like I jus' go' kicked by ah hif'ogriff." His speech started to slur as his injury rapidly began to swell. "Fuc' meh…I feel 'hwoozy."

"C'mon Ron. Let's get you out of here," Harry said with a frown as he and Ginny started to escort him through the bustling crowd, who willingly parted to make a path for them. No one wanted to get blood splattered on them. A few people turned away in disgust as they passed by, Ron's face was a grisly sight.

"Geesh. I've heard of bludgers swooping into crowds before but I've never seen one hit an observer before," said Landen in shock.

"Neither have I. They're usually charmed to pass over the crowds. That bludger must have been faulty. I'll have to get it replaced right away," commented Hermione as she glared suspiciously across the stands, over to where she knew Draco was sitting; but he had already disappeared from the crowd.

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A/N: I will never fully understand why I hate Ron so much when I write fanfictions. SMH. Poor guy. I almost feel sorry for him...yet, not...ah well someone has to suffer the wrath of my pen, right?

Reviews are always anticipated and appreciated. Thanks much!


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